Tears of Snow
by FlashKenshin77
Summary: Snowdrop, a young blind filly meets Icy Mist, a young disabled pegasus that moved to Cloudsdale. Together, they search for some companionship in this world and hopefully meet a certain somepony that cares.
1. I - I've Just Seen A Face

**_"The circumstances of one's birth are irrelevant, but it's what you do with the gift of life that determines who you are."_**

~;~

Winter was in full bloom in Cloudsdale, snow blanketing the city. At least a foot and a half covered the floating city, the clouds thick and heavy. The sun was high in the sky, peeking through the snow clouds. The pegasi, like the unicorns and earth ponies below, were preparing for the worst. Unfortunately, even with the blizzard approaching, school was in full swing. Fillies and colts buzzed around, playing in the snow. Yet as they played happily, I sat off to the side, waiting for school to start.

We had just moved from Manehattan into a two roomed apartment on the second floor of the Cozy Apartments, run by a nice elderly mare named Mist Dancer. My dad thought my 'condition' would lead to some problems there.

The bell rang as all the fillies and colts filed into the school building, bumping into me as they walked by. A few whispered to their friends, glancing at me as they passed. I sighed and lowered my head. Staring at the snowy ground, I slowly made my way into the classroom.

The room looked huge, windows lined the entire right wall. Underneath them, shelves held books, crayons, paper, rulers, pencils. It looked like somepony cleaned them daily as not a speck of dust could be found on the shelves. There were forty desks in the classroom, plus the teacher's desk right next to the window. The teacher's desk was neat, not a stray piece of paper or pencil. She had a cup that held a few pens and pencils, and a eraser next to it. On the very center of her desk, facing the students, sat a small little nameplate, with 'Mrs. Windith', written in cursive. Eight columns of five desks, each spaced the same distance, with a bit of room between the chalkboard and the first row. The chalkboard itself took up the entire front of the class with a tray holding several pieces of chalk and an eraser hiding underneath.

I stood at the front of the class, my face getting hot as everypony's eyes were on me. They all stared at me as the teacher, Mrs. Windith, got up from her desk, smiling as she walked up to me.  
Somewhere around her middle ages, she had a light tan coat, her mane and tail gray. Yet past her thin gray glasses, bright green eyes still showed warmth for her students. She paused. "Well class, as I'm sure you're all aware, we have a new student." She paused to look at me. "Would you kindly introduce yourself?"

I gulped, my face turning red as I stared at the floor. "W-well, my name is Icy Mist and I moved here from Manehattan and-"

"Why are you wearing an eyepatch?"

Mrs. Windith looked at the pony that talked. "Cumulo." She said, silencing the pony. "Please, continue Icy." She urged me.

I nodded. "W-well, that. I had um... a sickness that made me wear this eye patch..."

The fillies and colts stared at me before they laughed, smiling at me. "He's just like that character from that book!" A colt yelled from the back. Mrs. Windith went to yell at him before the chant 'Patchy' rose throughout the class.

My lower lip quivered as Mrs. Windith slammed her hoof down. "That's enough! You should all be ashamed of yourselves, making fun of this poor colt." She looked at me. "Thank you Icy, please take a seat anywhere you want." She said with a smile.

I nodded, sighing as I sat next to a colt as Mrs. Windith cleared her throat. "Alright class, open your history book to page one hundred and forty five." Her eyes darted at me. "Icy, since you don't have your school book yet, you can share with a classmate."

The colt next to me scooted closer and pushed his book so it was on top of our desks. As the lesson on Camelu and their weather patterns began, the colt leaned towards me. "Is it true?" He whispered.

I looked at him. "Is what?"

"That you can't see with that eye?"

I nodded.

"I'm sorry to hear that. My uncle lost his eyes to some disease himself." He said, holding his hoof out. "My name is Cirrus."

"Icy." I said, shaking it.

Class dragged on as I read the book, amazed that textbooks could be so clean looking. Back in Manehattan, the only books I saw were the hand me downs in the public library. I sighed as I squinted at the book, still trying to read.

The bell interrupted her and all the colts and fillies rushed out of the classroom, yelling "RECESS!". As the wave of students filed out of the classroom, Ms. Windith let out a sigh. Shaking her head, she sat down at her desk and, opening a book, began reading. As I slowly got up, I noticed another filly was still here, sitting in the second row, fiddling with something on her desk. I paused and watched for a moment, confused as to why she hadn't left yet. Her coat was a light powder blue, glistening like soft snow. Her mane and tail were the color of snow, which didn't help the fact that both were covered in it. She blinked a few times, lightly shaking her head as her eyes sparkled in the sunlight. They were a dull powder blue as well.

I went over to her and her ears twitched at the noise. "Aren't you going out for recess?" I asked.

"Oh... um... no, I like staying in here." She said quietly. As she sat there, her front hooves constantly mashed and rolled at a cloud piece. I stared at her for a few seconds until she noticed I was still there. Her cheeks turned red. "Umm..."

"I was just wondering what you were making?" I asked.

"A cloud flower." She said happily, still working at the cloud.

"A cloud flower?"

She nodded. "Whenever I would get sad, my mommy would go outside and grab a piece of a cloud and sculpt it into any flower that I want. She told me how to do it, but I just can't seem to get it right." She said, her eyebrows furrowed in concentration.

"Here, let me help," I said. Hesitantly, I grabbed her hooves and helped her mold the cloud just the right way. Her face took on a healthy shade of red as we worked together, the cloud slowly taking on the shape of a snowdrop flower. Finally a few minutes later, we smiled at each other. "I think we got it."

She gently felt the cloud, her smile getting bigger as her hooves danced over the petals. "Yeah, I think you're right." She said, holding up the flower.

"That's a good job, both of you." Somepony said behind us. We jumped and looked up at Mrs. Windith, a smile on her face. "Is that a snowdrop flower?" She asked.

The filly blushed and nodded. "My mommy only told me how to make this one."

"Well that's a very good job Snowdrop, I think your mother will love it."

Snowdrop smiled. "I can't wait to show her. And thank you Icy for helping me."

I smiled back at her. "I'm glad I could be of some help to somepony."

She tilted her head, confused at me. Right then the bell rang and all the fillies and colts piled back in the room. Snowdrop quickly put the cloud flower into her saddlebag as I made my way over to my desk. I felt a pair of eyes bearing down on me. I turned around and saw Cirrus looking at me oddly as I sat down.

"Alright class, settle down. Now I was thinking we do a little group activity, so Icy can get to know more of you. Split into groups of two and I want you to describe your partner as best as you can."

At once everypony split into groups. I scooted closer to Cirrus, both of us taking out our notebooks. I noticed Snowdrop's ears were down and she looked sadly at her desk, everypony avoiding her.

"Hey Snowdrop, you can join our group," I said. Her head whirled towards my voice.

Cirrus looked at me angrily as Snowdrop carefully made her way over next to me.

"Thank you again." She whispered.

"No problem."

"But how is she gonna help us? She's blind." Cirrus asked.

I stared at him, my mouth open. I turned to look at her again, but she kept staring at the desk. I realized now why she never seemed to look at me, she couldn't._ And I thought I had it bad, at least I can see..._ I looked back at Cirrus, my words stuck in my throat. I paused and took a deep breath. "D-does it matter? I'll help her." I stuttered.

He rolled his eyes. "Pssh, should've seen that coming."

"What does that mean?"

"Come on think about it: she's blind, and you only have one eye."

"And that means?" I glared.

He leaned close to me, hoof up to my ear. "Look, I know you're new here and don't know any better, but Snowdrop is a klutz. She's messes up everything! If you let her join our group, she'll only bring us down." He paused to glance at her. "There is a reason that she eats alone, you know. You can at least see and keep up with other ponies. So I say try to avoid her at all costs."

Before I could respond, Mrs. Windith came over to us. "Is there a problem?"

"Cirrus-"

"Actually I was wondering if I could work alone?" Snowdrop said. "I mean, its not like I could describe anypony anyway." A sad smile grew on her face.

"Are you sure?" Mrs. Windith asked.

"I'm sure..."

"But it's really not that big of a deal..." I tried to reason with her.

Cirrus looked at us before quickly getting up. "Fine, I'll go work with Windy, if that'll make things easier." He said and went over to a lone colt in the back.

looked at us before she walked through the rest of the students. Snowdrop looked at me sadly. "Are you sure you want me as your partner? I always screw everything up..."

"Don't worry. If we screw up, we'll screw up together." I reassured her. "Besides, so what if you can't see? I can't see real well either. But if we work together, maybe we might be able to."

She smiled, her eyes glistening. "Thank you Icy..."

"Come on, let's get started. I'll describe myself so you can write it down." She nodded and grabbed her pencil. I cleared my throat.

"Well, I have dark blue fur and my mane and tail are a shade darker blue than my fur. I don't have a cutie mark yet so I can't tell you that." She giggled. "And my eyes are... um... what did my mom say? Emerald, I think..." I paused as I tried to remember. "Well, at least my left one. I don't know about my right."

"Is that where you're blind?" She asked.

"Yep, that's why I wear this eyepatch."

"Ha-have you ever forgotten to wear your eyepatch?" She asked hesitantly.

"Yeah..." I said.

"Is-is it bad?"

I stared at the floor, nervously tapping my hoof against it. "Yeah... my dad threw the bottle towards the trash can and I didn't see it. It hit and cut my eye. But he didn't mean too! It was an accident. I-I was just at the wrong place at the wrong time."

She was silent, stunned.

"I still have a scar..."

She looked at me horrified. "I'm-I'm so sorry... Did you tell anypony?"

"No, they'd think he did it on purpose... it was just an accident."

"What about your mom?"

"She left when I was real little."

She looked like she was going to cry. "I'm so, so sorry!" She said.

I shrugged. "It's okay, I guess... anyway, what about you? Can you describe yourself?"

She blinked, surprised at the sudden change in topic. "Me?" She asked, her face reddening. "Well I can only say what my mom told me when I asked her."

"That'll work. Okay, go ahead." I said, readying my pencil.

"Well, my mother said I had a mane like a freshly fallen snow drift, and eyes that sparkled like the light of the sun on the ocean just as it is rising over the horizon. And my coat..." She paused, shifting in her seat.

Before she could continue, Mrs. Windith loudly cleared her throat. "All right, I think that's enough time. Now, I'm going to call on a group one at a time and they're going to stand up and tell the class what they talked about." She scanned the students until her eyes finally rested on Cirrus. "Windy, Cirrus, why don't you go first?"

The two colts sighed and stood up, going down a simple list that everypony could see. When they finished, another pair followed the pattern. Mrs. Windith repeated the procedure around the room in a clockwise motion until she finally stopped at Snowdrop and I. Before she could call on us, a loud bell rang. Everypony immediately rushed out of the room, heading towards the cafeteria.

"Ok, we'll finish this after lunch." She called to the fleeing ponies, the classroom empty once more. She shook her head before looking at us. "Aren't you two going outside for lunch?"

"I.. um... brought my own..." Snowdrop said.

My face turned red. "I didn't..." I whispered, embarrassed.

Snowdrop felt around in her saddlebag before pulling out a small brown bag. She opened it and grabbed a daisy sandwich wrapped in a small plastic bag along with an apple. Grabbing the sandwich, she looked in my direction. "Want some?"

"No, I'm ok..." My stomach loudly disagreed and I felt my face grow warm.

She hoofed me a half. "Here, take it."

"No, I couldn't."

"Please, consider this a thank you for wanting to work with me..."

I paused and mumbled, grabbing the sandwich half before I thought against it. I took a bite. And then I quickly gobbled it up. "That was amazing..." I said happily.

She smiled. "My mom made it..."

"That was the best thing I've eaten in like two days."

Snowdrop looked at me. "When was the last time you ate?"

I paused, thinking. "Um... Friday? No wait, Saturday. Dad brought home some peanuts from the bar."

She opened and closed her mouth a few times in shock. "You're coming over for dinner." She said flatly.

"But... Dad'll be really mad if I don't come home after school."

She pouted. "But you haven't eaten... and it doesn't matter if I just met you, you're my friend."

I blinked a few times. "F-friend? What's that?"

"You don't know what a friend is?"

"Somepony that you want to spend time with or have fun with. Somepony who you can talk about anything with. And they share the good times and bad times with you." Her cheeks got red. "Or so I've been told."

"Well then the closest thing I had to a friend was this pony back in Manehattan that would share his lunch with me."

She looked at me, her hooves searching for mine. Finally, she found them and grabbed them. "Well I consider you my friend. And if you want to come over for dinner, you're more than welcome too..."

I looked at her. "If you're sure I won't be a problem, then I'm sure I can talk to my dad and..."

Before I could finish, she squealed loudly. "Yay!"

Laughing, I said, "You're an odd filly."

She stuck her tongue out in response. "And this is coming from a pirate."

We looked at each other before bursting out laughing, holding our stomachs.

Mrs. Windith giggled at the two of us. "Oh you two." She said, shaking her head.

Snowdrop let me have a few slices of the apple as well and soon, lunch was over. Fillies and colts returned back to their seats, each one giggling and shouting. Yet Cirrus ignored me as he sat down.

Mrs. Windith finally got them to settle down. "Okay class, I know you're all hyper, but it's time to settle down so we can get back to work. Now I believe we have one more group that has to present." She said, looking at me and Snowdrop. We gulped as we got up, standing in front of the class.

The class stared at us; it was quiet enough to hear a pin drop. I cleared my throat, everypony looking at me. We quickly ran through our list, Snowdrop asking me for help a few times. Then I said what I wrote down, causing Snowdrop to blush even harder as a few fillies giggled. We finished the report, standing awkwardly at the front of the class.

"Very good, you may take your seat." Mrs. Windith said, turning around. The classroom erupted into whispers. I helped Snowdrop find her seat before sitting down, a few fillies looking at me as they talked quietly amongst themselves. I could feel their stares on the back of my head.

Mrs. Windith walked around the classroom, passing out paper and crayons. When she was finished, Mrs. Windith went back to her desk for some water. "I want you to think about something that makes you happy and then I want you to draw it. If you don't finish it before class ends, just add that to your homework."

Instantly everypony went quiet, all of them lost in deep thought. I stared blankly at the paper, trying to think of something. I begun to tap the pencil on the desk, my mind struggling to come up with something happy to draw. I looked over and saw that Snowdrop was drawing something and Cirrus was scribbling intensely, the tip of his tongue sticking out in concentration.

Suddenly an image popped into my mind and my hoof started drawing of its own accord. Quickly the outline slowly took the shape of a mare. I erased the outlines before I started coloring her with crayons. I grabbed the pink crayon, coloring in her spiky mane before mixing together red and orange for her coat. I paused, hunting for the purple so I could color in her eyes. Her eyes stared back at me vacantly as I drew her hooves, both of them outstretched to hug me. I smiled at the drawing before I looked over and saw Cirrus looking at me.

"Who's that?" He asked.

"My mom, or at least what my Dad said she looked like."

He looked sad. "What do you mean? Don't you know your mom?"

I was silent, staring at my paper. I continued to draw.

"Oh... I'm... um... sorry." He muttered awkwardly.

I shrugged. "It's ok."

"Who's that, your babysitter?" A voice next to me asked sarcastically. I looked and saw it was a filly was a light violet coat with a braided blonde mane . Her purple eyes disdainfully gazed at my drawing.

I shook my head. "No, that's my mom."

She paused, staring at the drawing before looking at me. "No wonder why she left," she said flatly, turning back to her own drawing.

I stared at her, confused. "W-what do you mean?"

"Oh its nothing Patchy, you'll see. Eventually." She said, happily ignoring me as she colored in her drawing.

I turned to look back at my drawing, trying to hold back tears.

"Cumulo, you don't know that!" Cirrus said, surprised at his classmate.

"Well he clearly doesn't know his mom, I mean look at him! Unless she's blind like Klutz over there, she would've done something. I mean, it looks like he lives in the mud. Whoever his mom is doesn't care for him, its so obvious! Just look at the eye patch. If she did, it wouldn't be so dirty!" She said.

I looked at my drawing, memories of my dad yelling at me for wanting to know what my Mom was like. I sniffled, trying to stop any tears.

"Say you're sorry!"

"Why should I?"

"What's going on over here?" Mrs. Windith walked over. I could feel the entire class looking at us.

"Cumulo said that Icy's mom left because he's a mess. And she doesn't even know if she did or not!" Cirrus said.

I closed my eyes, forcing the memories to stop as tears trickled down my eyes. Mrs. Windith stared at the filly before she bent down and was level with me. She wrapped her hooves around me, resting my head on her shoulder. "Shh, it's ok..."

My mind froze, unable to process what the teacher was doing. But my body didn't. Instantly I struggled against her and, breaking free of her grip, charged out of the classroom. Tears were flowing down my face. I ignored the ponies that I passed on the streets, my mind trying to catch up to what happened. I couldn't comprehend why she'd hug me so I ran, hoping that I could distract myself. I heard several voices follow me, but I ignored them, reaching the edge of the town. I saw a cloud floating alone, away from everything and I jumped towards it.

I sank into it, finally able to hear nothing, save the hiss of the wind. I cried, away from everypony's eyes. It was always easier to run and hide, then deal with them. I laid there for who knows how long, the snow and cold wind my only companions. I sighed, wishing I could hide from everything, but knew I'd have to face it sometime.

"I-Icy?" A voice called out to me.

I looked up, Snowdrop standing on the edge of the city. "W-what are you doing here?"

She faintly smiled. "Well whenever I get sad, I'll run away from everypony too." She felt the edge of the cloud before jumping.

"Wait Snowdrop!" I said, only to pause as she landed gently on my cloud. I stared at her in amazement. "H-How did you do that?"

She looked at me, confused before walking back. "Even I can walk the little gap." I looked at the cloud, and sure enough, the gap was only a few inches big. She walked up to me and sat down, looking in my direction. "So..". She started, looking at the cloud.

I looked at her, confused. "So what?"

"I-is it true what Cumulo said?"

"I... I don't know." I paused. "I couldn't tell you about my mother, I never knew her... She's been gone as long as I can remember." I looked up at the sky, the clouds blocking most of the sunlight. "Sometimes, I'll look at the night sky, hoping that something would give me a sign that she's okay, or at least tell me where she was..."

Snowdrop was silent, staring at the sky. "Perhaps they are not the stars, but rather openings in heaven where the love of our lost ones pours through and shines down upon us to let us know they are 's what my mom told me when my grandma died..." She blushed, nervously rubbed her forehooves together.

I stared at her dumbfounded for a moment before staring at the sky, the clouds blocking the sun. "For a while, my dad refused to tell me what happened to my mom... and when he finally did, I didn't know what to think. It's always been the two of us, me and Dad, just struggling to make ends meet." I sighed. "I... just don't know anymore."

We were quiet for awhile, merely sitting next to each other. "It's funny, I can still remember when I was picked on the first time. And I started to cry and I ran to the edge of town... I sat there for a long time, thinking about everything when Daddy found me. He didn't say anything, merely hugged me. 'Even the sad and painful memories shouldn't be forgotten.' He said. I've never understood it till now. No matter how much it hurts, its still makes you who are. And I'll be here to keep reminding you."

"But why? I'm not worth it..."

"You are Icy... you just can't see how much you mean to ponies. Think of what would happen to your dad if you weren't here? He'd be devastated..."

I looked at the cloud, staring into nothing. I suddenly felt a pair of hooves encase me and Snowdrop's head briefly rested on my shoulder. As sudden as the hug was, it was over and she grabbed my hoof, pulling me up. "Come on, you still have to come over for dinner." She said, her cheeks slightly red.

"But what about my school stuff?"

"Don't worry, I took care of them." She said, pointing to two saddlebags back by a street lamp.

"Thank you Snowdrop... for everything."

She smiled. "That's what friends are for, right?"

I chuckled as we hopped back onto the cloudy city. "Mrs. Windith is gonna be mad at me, isn't she?"

"No, but she was furious at Cumulo and gave her detention. She said she'll talk with you tomorrow." Snowdrop said as we put our saddlebags on.

We walked silently next to each other as she lead me to her house. The wind kept hitting us, sending chills up my back. I looked at Snowdrop, who was also shivering. I picked up the pace, trying to block the wind off her. She looked at me and smiled as we continued on. I could almost feel the warmth that she emitted, even with everything that's happened to her. Finally I couldn't take the silence anymore. "Not to be rude or anything but why are you being so nice to me? Every time that's happened is because they only wanted something in return." I looked at her.

She paused, nodding her head after I finished speaking. "Because... I know what it's like." She said quietly.

"What do you mean?"

"I... I have no friends." She said bluntly. "No pony even wants to hang out or let me be apart of their group because I can't see and I always screw everything up." She bit her lower lip. "And then here's somepony that will actually talk to me who thinks I'm not a screw up." A few tears sprinkled from her eyes. "I think that's enough reason for me to treat them the same."

I looked at her as she wiped her eyes and we continued on the path. We went back to being quiet, both in our own worlds. I faintly smiled as we turned the corner. "You know its funny really, this whole friend thing. I've always thought it was a waste of time and no pony would want to be my friend." I paused. "Then I meet this filly that's been through what I have, just so much worse. And yet she can still smile and be happy. I'm glad you're my friend Snowdrop."

She smiled and almost poked me in the good eye as she flung her hooves around my neck with her hoof. Her face turned bright red as she let go and quickly sped up, almost hopping along. I laughed as I watched her with a huge smile on her face. "What's so funny?" She asked.

"Nothing." I said.

She looked at me, trying to tell if I was lying before shrugging. "We're almost home." She said.

"How can you tell?"

"By the smell of my mom's cooking, of course!" She said, going faster.

I grinned as I followed her. Before long, we arrived at a nice two story cloud house with three windows greeting us in the front. Snowdrop quickly burst through the door, shouting, "Mom! I'm home! And I brought a friend!"

"Oh really?" A mare said from the kitchen, walking out with a smile on her face. Snowdrop ran over and gave her a brief hug. The mare had a two toned mane, a light shade of pink and white. The pattern reminded me of a peppermint candy. Her coat was a faded lime green color. Her cerulean eyes twinkled as she hugged Snowdrop. Her cutie mark was a pink rose and she smiled when she saw me. "And who's this?"

"I'm Icy Mist. I just moved here from Manehattan," I said.

"Hello Icy, I'm Primrose."

"Mom, I was wondering if Icy could stay for dinner. Can he?"

Primrose smiled. "Of course dear, if he wants to."

"If it wouldn't be too much of a hassle, that is," I said, nervously swirling the cloud floor with my hoof.

"Of course not! It'd be my pleasure." She said.

"Yay! Come on Icy, I wanted to show you my room." Snowdrop said, grabbing my hoof and rushing me upstairs. I had just turned back to thank Primrose when I saw a tear silently fall from her eye. She mouthed 'thank you' at me. Before I could respond, I was whisked upstairs. Snowdrop opened the door and proudly walked inside. I paused, before peering inside.

The room was clean and tidy, the shelves organized. She had a normal bed and a bunch of books. I saw that she had a toy chest in the corner, a few random toys strewn about.

"Wow..." I said, looking at everything.

"What?" She asked, blushing.

"Your room... it's huge. And you have so much stuff."

"Well yeah. Mom and Dad say just because I can't see doesn't mean I shouldn't have toys to play with." She said with a smile. I smiled at her, shaking his head. "Do you have your own room?"

"Yeah but its about as big as a closet. Just enough to fit a bed and a small little chest in. I only got a few toys."

"Oh..." She paused before she trotted over and opened her chest, digging in there for a moment. She then stopped and pulled out a few dolls. "Wanna play?"

I eyed the doll for a moment, looking at the stuffed pegasus. What would his dad say? Something about a doll being a waste of bits? My eyes widened. But... but he isn't here to say I can't and she wants to... I hesitated for a moment before shrugging. "S-sure."

The rest of the afternoon was spent playing a bunch of games with her like dolls or action figures, a few rounds of hide and seek, which I purposely lost so I could see her smile, and a game or two of tag. Finally, it was getting dark and the breeze started picking up outside. We heard the front door opened and we watched as a stallion walked in.

He had the same powdery blue color coat as Snowdrop. His mane was wavy and silvery, almost as if he was born with it instead of earning it with age. He had laugh lines etched into his face underneath his golden eyes. His cutie mark was a storm cloud with a lightning bolt sticking out of the bottom.

"Hey honey." He said with a smile.

"Daddy!" She said, running to his open hooves and giving him a hug.

"And who is this?" he asked, looking at me.

"This is my friend Icy!"

"Hello there Icy. I'm Snowdrop's dad, Storm Chaser." He held out a hoof.

"Um... hi Mr. Storm Chaser." As I said this I shook his hoof.

He smiled. "You don't need to be so formal, you can call me Storm if you want."

"O-ok..."

He chuckled before looking at Snowdrop. "So how was school honey?"

Before she could answer, her mother interrupted. "Dinner's ready."

Storm smiled. "Come on, you can tell me over dinner." He said, picking up Snowdrop and putting her on his back. He hopped towards Primrose, Snowdrop giggling as I followed them. Primrose shook her head before kissing the stallion on the cheek as we walked into the kitchen. I walked inside and my mouth dropped.

The table had a plate with some fish propped in the middle. Surrounding it was a large bowl of salad with some dressing mixed in it and a small tray of bread. Instantly my mouth watered as they sat down.

"Well what are you waiting for? You can sit down and dig in whenever you want," Primrose told me.

I quickly sat down next to Snowdrop and looked at the assembly of food. Primrose hoofed out a plate full of food. I gratefully accepted it.

"You look like you haven't seen a home cooked meal in weeks." Storm said with a smile.

"Actually its been around four months." I muttered, distracted by food.

Primrose and Storm shared a look. "What do you mean? Don't your parents cook for you?" Storm asked.

"No, my dad doesn't know how to cook."

They shared a longer look as I dug into the food. Snowdrop told them about what happened today at school, and she even ran upstairs to show them her cloud flower. Primrose smiled as she gently held it, careful not to damage the snowdrop flower as she got up and got a cup, placing it inside and sat it on the counter. She hugged Snowdrop, kissing her forehead. We went back to eating, laughing as Storm was telling us what happened to him at work.

"So me and Duststorm are moving the snow cloud into position and she accidently sneezes and the cloud unleashed its snow all over the park." He laughed. "And as she tried to drag it away, some old colt flies up to us, half covered in snow thanks to her, and starts yelling, shaking his hoof. And-" He continued his story as I tuned it out, focusing on the food.

Finally finished, I leaned back, my snout covered in crumbs. Primrose and Storm laughed at me. Embarrassed, I wiped them off.

"I didn't think my cooking was that good."

"Are you kidding!? This is amazing! I don't think I've ever eaten this well in my life!"

Storm laughed. "I'd have to agree with the colt, honey. You really outdid yourself." As he said this he leaned over and kissed her on the cheek.

She smiled and hoofed out some more that I greedily accepted and soon, my plate was empty. I patted my engorged tummy. "That was amazing Mrs. Primrose, thank you so much."

"Its my pleasure and please, its Primrose. Mrs. makes me sound so old..."

Storm chuckled. "Oh the wish of youth..." He paused, looking at us. "So do you two have any homework?"

Snowdrop nodded. "Yeah, I was hoping that Icy could stay so we could work on it together." She asked, giving me puppy dog eyes.

I paused. "Sure, that'd be easier." I said as I grabbed my plate with my teeth. "Where do you want me to put this?"

"Oh don't worry about it. Go do your homework and I'll take care of it." Primrose said.

"Are you sure?"

She nodded. "I'm sure, now go finish that homework."

I smiled and ran off after Snowdrop. She was in her room, digging through her saddlebags, throwing books and papers everywhere. I helped her organize her stuff and we worked together to finish the drawings. After that, I helped her study for the test tomorrow, quizzing her afterwards. Somehow while doing that, we got distracted and started talking about flying.

Storm knocked on the door and opened it. "So how is the homework coming?"

"Dad, can you teach me to fly?" Snowdrop asked ignoring his question.

Storm paused for a second, blinking in surprise. "But I thought you didn't want to learn how to fly?"

"But if I don't, then I'll never be able to fly amongst the clouds and feel the air in my mane..." She pouted.

He looked at me. "Alright... if you really want to learn, then I'll teach you."

"Yay!" She yelled, running up to him and hugging him.

He smiled and nuzzled the top of her head before looking at me. "Do you know how to fly?"

I shook my head. "No... my dad doesn't think its a skill I need to learn."

"Nonsense, I'll teach you with Snowdrop, it'd be fun. Like my dad used to say, 'a pegasus that doesn't know how to fly is just an cow with wings.' No offense to any cows."

I smiled. "Thank you Mr. Storm."

"Kid, what did I say about that mister stuff? It's just Storm."

I grinned. "Ok Storm." I looked at the bedroom clock. It said it was a little after five. My heart sank at once. "I think its time I should be heading home," I said sadly.

Snowdrop frowned. "Ok..."

"Do you want me to walk you home?" Storm offered.

"No, it's okay, I think I can find it."

"Where do you live?"

"In the Cozy Apartments by the weather factory, I think?"

Storm nodded. "Come on, I'll show you the way."

I grabbed my things and making sure I had everything, headed downstairs. Primrose stood at the bottom, drying a dish.

"Thank you Primrose for letting me come over and for cooking me dinner." I said, smiling.

"It's no problem, your welcome over any time." She said. "Now you be careful..."

"I will."

Storm then quickly listed how to get home, even told me a short cut. "Are you sure you don't me to walk you home?"

"I'm sure. Thank you though."

"Okay kid, take it easy." He said.

Snowdrop walked up to me, staring at the floor. "Do you really have to leave so soon?"

"I do, my dad is going to wonder where I am." I paused. "But I'll see you tomorrow at school."

She looked up and hugged me. "Okay..." I froze, not sure what to do. I looked around and saw Primrose and Strom smiling at us. Storm wrapped his forehooves around himself, nodding at me to do the same. I hesitantly wrapped my hooves around her and hugged back. We soon let go, smiling at each other before I started my trek home. "Be careful!" She yelled.

"I will!" I yelled back and waving goodbye. With Storm's directions, I made my way home, a strong icy breeze hitting me. It was quiet outside, no pony around as the sun slowly disappeared into the horizon. I listened to the wind as I shivered, it whistling past me as snow steadily dropped. A strong gust flew through the street, snow flying everywhere. I bent lower to the cloud and shivered, wishing I had a jacket. Finally, I saw the apartment building. It stood three stories tall and looked like it needed a few touchups, the cloud it was made out of slowly degrading. I opened the door and blinked, my eyes adjusting to the lamplight.

Mrs. Dancer was sitting behind the front desk, reading a book. Her golden glasses shone in the lamplight as she turned the page. Her graying brown mane was wrapped in a bun like it was when I first met her and her dull green coat looked like it was brushed not that long ago. She looked up as I walked inside, shaking off some snow. "Good evening Icy. How was your day?"

"It was... fun." I said with a smile.

"That's always good." She said as I walked by. "Well, have a good night."

"You too." I said, walking up the flight of carpeted stairs before I came to my apartment door and unlocked it. The heavy smell of alcohol hit me as soon as I entered. I shut the door behind me as I made my way through the dim lighting. The living room was a mess, with boxes and newspapers all over the place. Unlike Snowdrop's house, there wasn't a single picture to be seen. The couch leaned horribly in the back, somehow missing a leg. A few whiskey bottles littered through the debris, dropped half hazardly onto the dark red carpet.

"Son." a voice said from the kitchen. I gulped as I walked closer, forcing myself into the kitchen. My dad was sitting at the table, slowly swirling a glass of whiskey with his hoof as he stared into the mahogany wood.

"H-hi Dad..." I said, scared to come any closer.

He slowly turned his head looked at me and his blue eyes were glazed over. "Where were you today?" He asked calmly.

"I-I was at a friends house so we could do home-"

"And you didn't let anypony know? I was worried about you!" He suddenly yelled, slamming the glass down. "What have we talked about with strangers?" He said, his voice slowly building with fury.

"D-don't talk to them?"

"And did you talk to strangers today?" I nodded, closing my eyes as I knew what he was about to say. "What's the punishment for breaking a rule?"

I started crying. "B-but Dad-"

I was interrupted as the glass sailed past my head and shattered against the door frame, the glass and whiskey trickling down the wall till they puddled at the floor. "No buts Icy! You broke a rule and you know the punishment. And now you're arguing with me!?" He exploded out of the chair, the furniture smashing hard into the ground. He stomped towards me, the pounding of his hoof matching my heartbeat. He slowly grew to the size of a giant as I looked into his fiery blue eyes. He stared coldly at me. "I raised you and take care of you and this is how you repay me?!"

Pain exploded in my head as it collided with something solid before I felt the ground bounce on the other side, dark oblivion taking me into a fitful sleep.

* * *

**Hey, guess who's still alive? Yeah... sorry I've been MIA... it's been a very hectic time. I finally got around to publishing this on FanFiction. Hopefully you all have fun reading it as much as I had writing it. Comments/Reviews/PMs very much appreciated!**


	2. II - Sweetest Thing

_**"Do you want to know where the real hell is hiding? It's inside your head."**_

~;~

Consciousness came back to me in pieces, the methodical snoring of Dad being the first thing I heard. The mattress creaked as I got up and shambled to the bathroom, turning the water on in the bathtub. As I waited for the pipes to warm up, I looked at myself in the mirror, trying to think of a way to hide my bruises. The entire right side of my face was purple, especially around my eye. The trusty patch hid some of it but was stained red, drawing even more attention to it. I hesitantly took it off and tried to clean it. I looked at the eye and saw discoloration, the deep scar standing out still.

I cautiously opened it, seeing a dull emerald green and instead of a healthy white, blood red. I squinted my left eye, holding the right one open as I tried to see it better. I lightly poked it and didn't feel anything. I sighed as I laid the patch on the sink to dry and gingerly stepped into the tub, the hot water burning as it seeped into the cuts and bruises. I almost cried out in pain. I shoved a hoof in my mouth and bit down hard as I quickly cleaned my coat, careful of the fresh cuts.

I dried off and looked at the towel, stained with dried whiskey and faint red marks. I threw it in the dirty hamper and snuck into my room, briskly getting ready for school. I could hear my dad wheeze in his room, passed out in drunken stupor. I slipped on my saddlebags, careful of my new markings and walked out, the sun barely poking out over the clouds.

I wandered around the empty city, once again my only companion being the quiet hiss of the wind. I headed towards the park me and Snowdrop passed by the other day. Ponies started to trickle out of their houses, and I ran to the cover of a few trees to look around hoping nopony saw me. There was a small empty fountain away from everypony, a few birds sprinkled on the edge. I hastily walked towards it.

The birds rapidly flew away as I got closer and sat down on the edge, staring at my reflection. The water weakened the bruises and cuts so it was only just noticeable and not standing out. I sighed, sitting down and feeling the tears slowly falling. They splashed into the water, which rippled around them.

[...]

I was six before Dad finally took me on a trip to the park. I was so excited I hopped up and down the entire way there. He was still hungover, and regretted letting me talk him into taking me.

"What's the big about some stupid park anyway?" He muttered, a hoof blocking the sun from his eyes.

"Because the park's so much fun! So many other ponies there that I could play with!" I said, happily bouncing.

"What did I say about strangers Icy."

"But Dad-"

"No buts Icy, we'll stay for awhile, then I have to get home for work."

I pouted, kicking the ground. "Okay..."

Finally we got to the park and I squeed, seeing the jungle gym and slide. I saw a swing empty and I rushed towards it, jumping in. "Dad, can you push me?" I asked, pleading.

"You're a colt, you can push yourself." He said, grumpily plopping on a bench, taking out a newspaper.

I sighed and pushed against the ground, the swing creaking. I heard fillies and colts laughing all around me. I looked around and saw a filly and her mom, who was helping them climb over a small hill in the monkey bars. I sat there, watching them as the filly cried in victory as she hugged her mom.

I smiled and looked at Dad. "Dad... where's mom?" Dad froze up behind his paper. He never gave me a straight answer or would avoid the question. Now though, I'll finally get to the bottom of it.

He peered at me over the tip of the newspaper, staring at me. "You wanna know where that two timing mare is? She ran out when you were born, and never once turned back."

I stared at him, my mind trying to understand what he meant. "W-what do you mean?"

He threw the newspaper down before stomping up to me. "She left because of you! She couldn't stand the thought of raising a foal that was already useless!" He yelled, the parents and their foals looking at us. I blinked a few times, tears starting to come down before he forcibly grabbed my hoof. "Come on, we're going home."

I forced down the tears as he dragged me home, the ponies around us unsure what to do. When we got home, he threw me into my room, slammed the door, and got ready for work. He left a few minutes later as I heard the front door open and shut. I laid down on my bed, and rocked back and forth, crying into my pillow.

[...]

I held the picture I drew yesterday, staring at it. 'Mom' happily hugged me, a wrinkle hiding her face. I felt the tears fall and tried to stop them, failing. My hooves shook as I wished it all to go away, the emptiness gnawing at my chest. I quickly held a hoof to it, pain blossoming as the world spun briefly, and I struggled to breath.

A moment later the pain disappeared, and I shakingly took a breath. I wiped my face, careful of the swelling, and stuffed the picture into my saddlebags. I slowly made my way towards the school, taking the long way. As I limped, I heard somepony behind me and turned my head towards the noise. Surprisingly, it was Snowdrop, walking quietly to the school building.

"Hey Snowdrop, what are you doing here so early?" I yelled, shuffling as fast as I could, trying to catch up to the filly.

She whirled around, her ears pointed in my direction. "I-Icy? What are you doing here?" She stopped and waited for me.

"I... er, usually leave this early so I don't wake my dad... what are you doing out so early?"

She hesitantly kicked the snow. "It's better if I get there before the others do."

"Why's that?"

"Then I'm not in the other's way."

"But you're not-"

"It's ok Icy, I know I am." She sighed. "I always have been. It's just a fact of life that I've accepted."

I nudged her with my snout. "You aren't in my way and I walked up to you. I don't know why you'd ever think you were."

She sniffed. "Because all the kids say I am..."

I rested a hoof on her shoulder. "Snowdrop, you're not in anypony's way, ever."

"But I bump into everypony and I-"

"So do I, and I can still see."

She faintly smiled. "But the others-"

I gave her a hug. "Are just big bullies that need somepony to pick on..."

She sighed, closing her eyes for a moment. "That's what my Dad said too..."

"Then I can't be wrong if a grown up said it, right?"

"I-I guess..." She said.

"See? I know a way to make this better, let's go get some ice cream." I said, grabbing her hoof and leading her into town.

"But I didn't bring any bits..." She said, keeping up.

"Don't worry, I got enough for both of us." I said. "My grandma gave them to me." I said, walking next to her.

"Really? When?"

"For a birthday, I think. She secretly hoofed them to me, and said not to tell my Dad, said to save them for something special."

"Do you remember your grandma?"

"Sorta, but only feelings really. I know I lived with her for awhile." I scratched my head. "I remember her, and my dad arguing a lot, and the yelling..." I smiled. "But I do remember this one time I found a baby bird that just fell out of its nest, its little wing damaged. I rushed inside to get her, and she gently picked it up, trying to soothe it. She did something and its wing was all better. The baby bird flew back up to its nest and the baby bird's mom was so happy." I chuckled. "The look on my grandma's face when the two birds tweeted happily together was one of the only things I remember about her..." I paused, frowning. "Then she died, and I had to live with my dad again..."

There was silence as they walked along the path, ponies starting to emerge from their homes. "If you don't mind me asking, how did she die?" Snowdrop whispered.

"From what my dad told me, of old age. She was really old when I lived with her..." I paused, trying to remember.

"Oh... I'm sorry to hear that." She said.

"It's ok, I got over that a long time ago. Her best friend said she enjoyed every moment we had together, and that she wishes my mom was still around, whatever that means."

We finally got to the ice cream parlor, and I held the door open for her. She smiled, and walked through. The parlor was just opening. So there was only one other pony in there besides us, and that was the server. He had a chocolate colored mane with bright brown eyes. His coat was lighter color than his mane, with a bowl of ice cream as his cutie mark.

"Welcome to Thirty-One Flavors! My name is Basky Robbins, what can I-oh sweet Celestia, what happened to ya kid?" He asked, looking at me.

"It's nothing, I sorta... fell." I said, Snowdrop looking at me weirdly.

"From where? The top of the weather factory? Looks like you went a few rounds with a dragon." Robbins said, shaking his head. "A-anyway, what can I get you two?"

"What would you like?" I whispered, looking at Snowdrop.

She fidgeted slightly, still staring at me. "Um... I don't know... you don't have to get anything..."

"It's ok." I said to her. "Um... how about..." I said, looking at the selection. "Two small bowls of cookies and cream."

"Sure thing kid." Robbins said, digging underneath the counter, grabbing two bowls, and the ice cream scooper. "Take a seat and I'll bring it to you when it's done."

I nodded, lightly grasping Snowdrop's hoof as I led her to a corner booth. We scooted across, and briefly stared at each other.

"What did he mean you looked like you fought a dragon?"

"Oh that? I was helping my dad unpack and I sorta fell off the ladder and into a box. Took a few bumps." I said quickly. "It's no big deal."

"Oh goodness, are you alright?" She asked worriedly.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Didn't even feel it." I chuckled.

Robbins walked over, carrying the two bowls on his back as he slid them onto the table, the bowls stopping in front of us. "Enjoy." He said with a quick smile before going back behind the counter.

Snowdrop looked at me as I dug in, the cookies and cream tasted great even on a cold morning. Snowdrop blindly felt for her spoon before grabbing it, next searching for the bowl. I got up, sitting next to her.

"Here, let me help." I offered.

"Oh... um, you don't have to, I'm okay." She said, searching on the opposite side of the table.

"Please, I want to."

"But I got it." She said, clinking her spoon against my bowl and grinning widely at me, flipped the bowl as the ice cream flew straight into my face. I sat there, ice cream dripping from my face as she must've realized what she did. "Oh my Celestia, I'm so sorry!" She said, trying to find napkins. I licked some of the dripping ice cream and smiled.

I laughed as Robbins looked at the commotion. "What in the world is going on over here?" He asked, grabbing some napkins and hoofed them to me. I quickly wiped my face, still chuckling. He laughed, shaking his head. "Alright kids, I guess that one's on the house. I'll go get you another bowl." He said, walking away.

"Thank you." I said, turning to look back at her. Her face was bright red, her hooves covering her eyes as her body shook. "What's wrong?" I asked, my hoof resting on her back.

She sniffled, turning away from me. "N-now you won't be my friend..."

"What why would you think that? Is it because of the ice cream?" She nodded. "Snowdrop, that won't make me stop from being your friend. It was an accident and besides, it tasted good."

"B-but I spilt glue on Cumulo and she got so mad at me..." She muttered.

"That's her, not me. So what, you got a little ice cream on me? It's not like you meant to... It'll take more than that to get rid of me." I chuckled.

She faintly smiled, the tears stopping for the moment."Thank you Icy..." She looked at the table. "I should've just listened to you but I thought I could finally do something on my own." She sighed. "I've always had help doing the simplest things and I thought I could eat ice cream by myself. Guess I was wrong like usual."

Mr. Robbins came back, placing the bowl in front of me as he took the empty bowl away. "Snowdrop it's alright, everypony makes mistakes. I mean just yesterday I thought you were gonna fall through a gap between clouds. It looked a lot bigger to me..." I faintly smiled.

She tried not to smile. "But-"

"No buts, now are you going to eat this ice cream, or am I going to have to eat it?" I asked, pushing her bowl closer to her, helping her put the spoon in the bowl. I left her alone as she worked out a pattern.

She smiled, enjoying the ice cream, both of us silent.

"So, I was thinking." She said, tapping her spoon on the bowl.

I turned to glance at her, a spoonful of ice cream in my mouth. "Yeah?"

"Maybe we can get my dad to start teaching us how to fly later today?" She asked hesitantly.

I shrugged. "Sure, I doubt it'll be that hard."

She smiled, nodding as she scooted her bowl, carefully, away from herself, the spoon clanging on the porcelain.

"So what did you think?"

"I thought it was good. How about you? Better tasting it then wearing it?" She asked.

"Oh most definitely. Granted, I doubt it'll be good for hair gel. I'd keep eating it." I said, rolling my eyes.

She laughed, lightly tapping my shoulder. "But sorry for earlier..."

"It's alright, in fact..." I said, taking a bit that I had left and bopping her in the nose with it. I smiled as she looked at her nose. "Now we're even."

She stared at it, trying to get it off before she started giggling that turned into full blown laughter, wiping it off with a napkin. I started to chuckle as well, shaking my head as Snowdrop leaned against me for support, holding her ribs.

"I didn't think it was that funny..." I said, looking at her.

She gasped, wiping a tear from her eye. "It's not that, I just remember my Dad telling me a story about when him and Mom were dating. He did the same thing, thinking it was romantic or something and Mom flung the entire bowl at his face."

"Well you already did that so I had to improvise."

She blushed, getting off his shoulder. "Yeah... that was an accident."

"Or were you trying to recreate the story?" I asked, trying to keep a straight face as I looked at her. Her face turned a deeper shade red.

"Hey kids, aren't you going to be late for school?" Robbins yelled from behind the counter, wiping it down with a towel.

I turned, looking at the clock; it was a little before seven thirty. I quickly got up and grabbed our bowls, walking over to Mr. Robbins and paid for the ice cream.

He took the bits and put them in the cash register. "What about the drying ice cream kid?" He asked.

I shrugged. "Guess I got free mane gel." I said, walking over to Snowdrop as we put our saddlebags back on and waving goodbye, trotted to school.

"Thanks for the ice cream Icy." Snowdrop said, trotting happily.

"No problem, glad I could repay you for lunch yesterday." I mumbled.

Snowdrop led the way to school, taking the back streets so we wouldn't run into many ponies. The few ponies that we did run into however, stared at me in horror as they noticed my injuries. A few moved out of the way, stunned. We finally made it to the school, a pony stopping and asking what happened to me.

I opened the door to the classroom, the room full of fillies and colts. Mrs. Windith looked up from her desk as her eyes widened as she saw me. She quickly got up as the room suddenly went dead silent.

"Icy, what happened to you?"


	3. III - Peace of Mind

**"****_Every man has his secret sorrows which the world knows not; and often times we call a man cold when he is only sad._****"**

~;~

Everypony in class stared at us, waiting for my response. I felt the blood rise to my face, highlighting the mismatched bruises. "Um... I-I got in a fight after school in the park." I said quickly.

Snowdrop's eyes widened as she looked at me and I knew Mrs. Windith didn't buy it. She walked over to me, gently putting a hoof on my back. "We need to take you to Nurse Healium and have her look you over, make sure you didn't get seriously hurt."

"It's alright, I'm fine."

"Icy, you look like you were beaten up by a dragon. We're going to the Nurses." She turned to class. "Turn to page three hundred and sixty five. Read until I get back, then we'll take the quiz."

Before anypony could say anything, she dragged me out of the classroom and forced me down the hall towards the Nurse's office. We both were silent, our hooves echoing loudly on the floor.

Mrs. Windith looked at me briefly as she opened the door. The Nurse's office was a rather big room, a few beds tucked away in the corner. A brightly colored pegasus sat at a desk, organizing a few folders. She had a bright maroon blue mane, tied in a ponytail, the bangs just covering her eyes. Her eyes were a sparkling pink. Her coat was the same color as her mane, just a shade or two darker. She looked up as the door opened and our eyes locked.

"Oh my goodness, what happened?" She asked, quickly dropping the folder on the desk and walking over to me.

Mrs. Windith looked at me. "I... um... got into a fight at the park."

"Hmm..." Ms. Healium muttered, looking at a particularly painful cut on my cheek. She looked up at Windith and it felt like some unspoken conversation happened right in front of me.

Windith minutely nodded. "I'll go make sure my class isn't in total anarchy. Icy, stay here till I get you." She said with a faint smile as she slipped out of the room, shutting the door behind her.

It was an awkward silence as Healium bandaged me up, taking extra care on the deeper cuts. She grimaced as she examined them more, bringing over a light to make sure nothing important was damaged. "I'm sorry." She said, grabbing a pair of scissors and what looked like nylon thread. She rummaged around and grabbed a needle, the clean metal gleaming menacingly in the light.

The color drained from my face as she threaded the needle, making sure it was secure.

"I have to close this wound and band aids won't help." She said, smiling at me. "Don't worry, I've done this a million times. You just need to lay down and relax."

"Kinda hard when you have a giant needle in your hoof." I gulped as I lied on the bed, trying not to shiver.

She smiled as she grabbed some disinfectant and gently dabbed some on the cut.  
"Relax... just take deep breaths, it'll only take a minute." She said, the needle drawing closer. "Now you're going to feel a slight pinch but you can't move, understand?" I nodded. "Okay." She took a deep breath. "So I heard you just moved here from Manehattan?"

I yelped as the needle pierced my skin. I closed my eyes tightly and took a shaky breath. "Y-yeah, me and my dad."

"Where's your mom, if you don't mind me asking."

"I... I'm not sure."

"Oh?"

"Y-yeah, I've never met her. She left when I was a foal."

"I see..." She said, silent for a few moments. "There, all done." She said, grabbing the scissors and snipping the end, tying it into a knot. She put the needle down and grabbed more bandages, wrapping them around the stitch. "There we go, all better. Just take it easy and in a few weeks we'll take them out."

I smiled, moving my arm around, trying to get over the itchiness. "Thank you Nurse Healium."

"It's what I do." She said, getting up and putting the needle in the sink. "Icy... you know you can tell me anything right?"

"Uh, yeah?"

She turned around. "Icy, I can tell those cuts didn't come from any fight. That one there is too jagged." She pointed to the cut on my cheek. "What happened?"

"I... I uh... you're right, I didn't get in a fight." I sighed. "I was helping my dad unpack and fell from the ladder right into a box. It was full of picture frames and I landed wrongly."

She looked at me sadly. "Icy..." She was interrupted as somepony knocked on the door and it slowly opened, revealing Mrs. Windith.

She smiled. "How is he Healium?"

"A lot better now, looking good as new."

"I'm glad to hear that." She looked at me. "If you'd like, you can come back with me or stay here with Nurse Healium till you feel better."

"I think I'll go back to the classroom, it's almost recess." I grinned as the mares laughed, Windith leading me back.

She opened the door for me, the students looking up briefly from their desks. I noticed they were scribbling and saw a test as I walked by and sat down at my desk. Snowdrop was absent and I turned to stare at the chalkboard, waiting for the test to be over.

I seemed to slip into a daze, memories surfacing that I hadn't thought of in a long time. The time Dad tried to get me to steal that loaf of bread from the Manehattan bakery... and how wonderful it ended. I'm glad they took it easy on colts.

"Alright class, I think that's enough time." Mrs. Windith said, half the class sighing. She walked around, collecting the tests. Snowdrop came back, holding her test and pencil in her mouth, passing it to Windith as she sat down. Windith placed the pile of papers on her desk before grabbing another, passing them down the rows. "As you all know, the Spring Sun Celebration is coming up and I thought we should start getting ready for it with a little group project." She paused, letting everypony read the sheet. "I'm going to split you all into pairs and you two are going to come up with something to show Princesses Celestia and Luna. Now I'm sure most of you know your partners so get into little clusters and we'll use the rest of the time till lunch to start planning."

The class erupted into noise as ponies grouped together, pushing their desks into small rectangles. I walked over to Snowdrop. "Hey, you don't mind working together, right?" She shook her head as I pushed my desk up against hers. We reached into our saddlebags, pulling out a pencil and paper.

I was silent, tapping my pencil lightly against the desk. "Um... Icy, can I ask you a question?"

I blinked, turning to look at her. "Sure, ask away."

"Why did you lie?"

"What do you mean?"

She fidgeted. "Well... when you were telling Mrs. Windith that you got in a fight at the park after school... You couldn't have, you came to my house." She whispered. "W-why did you lie to her?"

"I... uh... didn't think it'd be that big of a deal..."

"What do you mean?"

"It's nothing, I um... I did get into a fight after I left your house."

"You did?"

"Uh.. um..." I stuttered, trying to think of something.

"Icy, is everything-"

"Everything's fine Snowdrop!" I yelled, slightly harsher than I meant to. Everypony looked at us for a moment before they went back to working, a few staring at us for a moment longer.

Snowdrop's ears fell flat on her head as she stared at her desk. "Oh... okay..."

"Is everything alright over here?" Mrs. Windith asked, sneaking up on me.

I nodded. "Yeah, we just couldn't figure out what to do for the Spring Sun Celebration..."

She stared at me. "Okay, well if you need any help, you could just raise your hoof and I'll try and help." She said, walking back towards her desk.

I sighed quietly, turning back to Snowdrop. "Um... Snowdrop, I didn't mean to-"

"I was thinking of having us each make a cloud flower for each princess?" Snowdrop asked in a monotone voice, not looking up from the desk.

"Um... sure." I paused, watching her write down the idea. "Are you alright?"

She nodded. "Do you know what the Princesses favorite flowers are?"

"N-not a clue... Snowdrop-"

"Then we'll have to check the library and see if Ms. Dancer knows."

I nodded, writing down a few ideas as we were mostly quiet, lost in our own thoughts.

I slowly opened the door and heard the water running in the kitchen. I closed it, dropping my saddlebags off at the door and poked my head into the kitchen. Dad was standing in front of the sink, watching the few piling dishes inside. His ear twitched as he turned his head to look at me.

"Icy..." He said, sounding... slightly concerned.

"Hey Dad..." I said, gulping.

He stared at me in silence and I was too scared to ask what he wanted. He shook his hooves off and walked over to me, putting a hoof on my shoulder. I flinched as I felt the reassuring weight gently pat my shoulder. I opened an eye, looking up into his exhausted face. He seemed to have bags underneath his eyes and they were bloodshot.

"Look... Icy, I..". He paused, seemingly at a loss for words. He sighed, turning back around and heading back to the sink. "Go get washed up and do your homework."

I nodded, quickly stumbling over my front hooves as I left the kitchen. I paused, turning around. "Hey Dad... um... I'm sorry that I didn't-"

"It's fine Icy, get your stuff done. It's my fault that we didn't do them last night." He said, motioning towards the dishes.

"Okay..."

"Wait, Icy." Dad said and I froze. I could hear his hooves coming closer as I felt pressure on my back. "What happened?"

"I... uh..."

He was silent, his mouth slightly ajar as he ran a hoof over the bandages. I hissed in pain as he pushed against a band aid. "W-what happened?"

I didn't know what to say, silent as my brain went empty, trying to think of an excuse. Dad turned to look at the sink, staring at it in horror. He walked over to it and grabbed a broken shot glass.

"D-dad..."

He ignored me, lost in his own thoughts. He flinched, closing his eyes as his wings rustled. He held his hoof to his head. I ran over holding his hoof. "Dad, what's wrong?"

He took a sharp breath, opening his eyes as he backed up, staring at me.

"Dad-"

"Go do your homework!" Dad yelled and I fell back. Dad seemed furious, glaring at me. I ran out of the room, grabbing my saddlebags and charged into my room.

I leaned against the door, tossing my saddlebags towards the middle of the floor. I sat down, rummaging around inside them and pulled out my notebook and stared at the paper, trying to come up with the flowers the Princesses would like. I leaned against my forehooves, closing my eyes as I tried to think.

The wind blowed as I sat there, blinking as I looked around, lost. The moon was hidden by the clouds, snow blowing harder. I saw a filly sitting at the edge of the cloud, staring out into the darkness. I headed towards her, noticing it was Snowdrop. I heard her sniffle, rubbing her snout.

"Snowdrop, what's wrong?" I asked, resting a hoof on her shoulder as I phased through her and fell. I screamed, landing quietly on the cloud.

"Why did he have to..." She gulped, trying to stop the tears flowing.

"Snowdrop-" I said, trying to wrap her in one of those hugs again but every time I couldn't grab her, fading through her. She ignored me, almost as if I wasn't there.

"I didn't even get a chance to say I'm sorry... or goodbye..." She said, staring at the sky as I noticed she was holding a cloud flower.

I reached for it, my hoof resting on hers. "W-what are you talking about?"

Tears sprinkled the cloud. "He... he... said he wouldn't leave me..." She looked at me, almost as if she could see me. "Icy... why..."

I blinked. "What do you mean? I'm right here."

"Why did you do it... I thought we agreed to always be there for each other. I didn't know you'd ever resort to that..." She paused, taking a shaky breath.

"Snowdrop..." I said, a fiery pain erupted my chest as I gasped, clutching my chest. I panted, the world spinning away as it shrunk to a pinpoint before everything faded to black.

I opened my eyes, gasping in pain, my chest still on fire. I held a hoof to it, trying to breath. _What... what was that?_ I gritted my teeth, getting to my hooves.

The door flew open, Dad standing there. "Dinner- Icy, are you alright?"

"My chest... hurts..." I said, taking a step forward before fading to black and slumped to the floor.


	4. IV - I'm Looking Through You

**_"The heart becomes scratched and dented and repaired over time, and with one glance, you'd be able to tell your own from others."_**

~;~

I stood in a continuous snowfall, the sky a dark black. I looked around, barely able to see anything in front of me. I stumbled around, falling face first into the snow. I took a deep breath and let it out slowly, the breathe slowly billowing in the breeze.

I could faintly make out the outline of a pegasus, her mane looked pink. Her coat, or what I could make of her coat, was a dull orange with red spots every now and then. My eyes widened as I recognized her.

"M-mom?" I asked, staring at the pegasus.

She didn't turn around before dashing off into the distance. I quickly followed her, yelling over and over. Finally, she paused and turned around, her purple eyes gleaming with pride and sadness. Tears poured from her eyes, before she went to open her mouth.

"Icy..."

A voice said in the darkness, seemingly miles away. I paused, staring at her before realizing it was a voice I faintly knew. Everything was black, the snowfall heavy as I heard the voice again. The world suddenly glowed brighter before it felt like the sun was shining right next to me. The last thing I saw before the world vanished was the pegasus staring at me, tears falling faster from her eyes as she said something, her voice lost.

"Hey, I think he's awake." Storm's face came into view, a bit blurry as I squinted against the light. "You think you can dim the lights a bit?"

"He'll get used to it." Another pony said, this time a pony with a clipboard in hoof appeared in front of me.

"W-where am I?"

"You're at the hospital Icy. I found you on a bench nearby, passed out." Storm said, looking concerned. "What happened?"

I took a deep breath, squinting in pain as my chest flared up. "I'm not sure... my chest suddenly started to burn and everything went black."

"That's not the only thing. Looks like you've had some minor internal bleeding and a concussion." The doctor grabbed my arm and gently lifted it, looking at a few bruises. "Also looks like you were cut with a serrated edge."

"Icy, what happened?" Storm asked.

"I... I just fell into a box of pictures." I stuttered.

Storm was silent, staring at me.

"Honest, I'm fine."

"You sure don't look fine... looks like a pony used you as a punching bag. Now, are you going to tell me the truth?" Storm asked calmly, staring into my eyes.

"I... I can't." I muttered, staring at the sheets.

The doctor cleared his throat. "I'll take my leave..." He said, walking out of the room. Storm stared at me as I stared back at the covers, feeling his eyes pierce me.

"Icy, I've only known you for a day but this is serious. You can trust me, I promise nothing will happen." He said, reassuringly.

"But... I... can't." I hesitated, knowing what'll happen if he found out how I really got these wounds._He'll be just like Ms. Peas... _I bit the inside of my cheek, hard, as I tried not to say anything.

He sighed, looking at me before getting up. "Well, I won't force you to say anything but if you need to talk, I'll be there if you need me."

"T-thanks Storm and I'm sorry..."

"Don't worry about it kid, just look after yourself." He smiled faintly. "Take it easy, alright? And don't worry about school, I'll talk to Mrs. Windith tomorrow. I gotta get going, they're probably wondering where I am." He walked out of the room, waving goodbye before leaving me alone in the dark.

I sighed, staring at the sheets before staring out the window, the moon bright in the sky. _Maybe if I tell them, they could help... but what would happen to Dad? I know he's gone through a lot because of me... _I held a hoof to my eyes, feeling tears slowly trickle out. _This is all my fault anyway... I should've just stayed quiet in Manehatten and none of this wouldn't have happened..._

The stars twinkled as I leaned back and rested against the pillows, hoping for sleep to take me once again.

The sun was rising, sneaking in through the cracks in the hospital room's blinds. I lay there, my eyes riveted on the ceiling. _When I go home, I'll have to deal with dad. When I go to school, I'll get yelled at by Mrs. Windith or Nurse Healium. And Snowdrop... she's probably really mad at me..._

"Seems somepony has a lot on his mind." A voice said from the door.

I looked at the door, an older pegasus standing there with a faint smile. He had a dark tan coat, most of it turning sliver, which matched his mane and tail. His eyes were faded blue, just like Snowdrops. A white lab coat covered his cutie mark but I was sure it had something to do with an hourglass.

"Who are you? I asked, confused.

"A doctor of sorts." He said, grunting as he sat down in the chair that Storm had earlier. He coughed, clearing his throat. "So what's on your mind?"

I blinked. "And why should I tell you?"

"What'll it hurt if a random stranger knows whatever is eating away at you? I doubt it'll matter to anypony in the least. And besides, you seem to quite popular, if what I heard is true."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I heard Storm and Doctor Ravens talking about what happened to you. Internal bleeding, numerous cuts. They also discovered wounds that were years old, chipped bones, a fractured hoof, why you have that scar on your eye. Icy, it's not good to keep those sort of injuries bottled up."

"Who the hay do you think you are!? Waltzing right into my room and talking about me like I'm not even here!" I yelled, furious. I was tired of ponies always assuming that they knew everything, just because they were older. "You have no idea what I've been through, no idea what I've lived with..." I said, my voice cracking.

The pony looked at me sadly. "Me and you have a pretty similar foalhood. Mum's no where around, raised by a father that could care less if you live or die. Beats you for trying to exist in a world that isn't his, forces you to do what he says. I know a lot more than you think kid." He sighed. "But the one thing that I've learned that you haven't is other ponies do care."

"No they don't, not even a little."

"Storm thinks differently and so does his daughter, what's her name? Snowdrop?"

"How do you know her?"

"She was here when Storm brought you in, she went with him to the store. She was so worried about you."

"But she's mad at me..."

"There comes a time when being mad at somepony is pushed aside when they see the other in mortal peril. She was afraid the last thing she said to you was something that made you two argue."

"But..."

"In hindsight, she's probably so relieved that you're alive that she'll apologize for anything. But I have a feeling it wasn't her that started the so called fight."

"No..."

"She was asking you what happened didn't she?"

I nodded, silent.

"Icy, she cares more about you than you can possibly know. You're her first friend... I'm pretty sure you can tell her."

"But I can't... I just can't..."

"Why can't you tell your friend?"

"You should know if you lived through what I do... he's my dad... I don't want anything to happen to him."

"Has he been a good father?"

"Of course he has!" I said defensively.

"Oh really? Beaten you whenever you broke a rule, made sure you didn't have any close friends, manipulated you and let you take the fall for so many of his busts. From the sound of it, it sounds like-"

"Yes, he's made some mistakes but I'm still his son! He loves me and I'll gladly do anything to hear him say the same!" I cried, covering my mouth with my hooves.

"Ah, there we go. He's never said he's loved you before, has he?" I shook my head. "If you'll let me, can I ask a question?"

"What?" I croaked.

"In the few days that you've known Snowdrop and Storm, haven't they proven that they care about you?"

"Well yes but-"

"And if they know the truth, we both know that they'll do everything in their power to help."

"But I just can't... he's still my dad, no matter how much pain he puts me through."

"As a father, raising a child alone can be very taxing and very hard on him."

"How would you know anything about me! Or the situation I'm in?"

"I was once a father as well, my wife having died during the labor. I barely managed to control my daughter. She would drive me crazy, always complaining and asking for mom. I did the very best I could and tried to guide her." He paused. "Then one day I get home from work and see a note on the table. She couldn't stand not knowing her mom so she decided it was time to meet her." He took a shaky breath, a few tears spilling out of his eyes. "I may be blind but you'll find out that the eyes, while the most effective sense, can also be the most misleading. I know exactly how your father feels and I know exactly how your feeling. I don't need to see, I can feel the echoes of pain on you."

I could feel the tears falling from my eyes as well. "Why? Why would you tell a complete stranger that?"

"Because I don't want you to do what I did... or what happened to me repeat itself. You're a strong colt and you can pull through this if you just think about what you want."

"W-what I want?"

"It's funny isn't it, to have somepony ask what you want and not what they want?" He pointed a hoof at me. "I can feel the insecurity in your heart, the uncertainty resonating. Never forget that you do have somepony that always cares for you, even if the one you want to admit it never does." He got up. "Well, that's enough soul searching for now. I do believe a good friend of mine owes me some muffins."

"Wait, h-how do you know all this? And who are you?"

He smiled. "Know that there are things you only know through experience and a long life. Now, you got some decisions to make, which are best made alone." He walked towards the door. "Just remember, when one door closes, another opens. You just gotta find it." He said, shutting the door behind him.

I blinked, leaning back against the pillows before groaning in frustration. _He makes it sound so easy... _I closed my eyes, willing for my brain to decide what it wanted to do...

A few days had gone by since I got out of the hospital and no pony had said anything about my visit. In fact, I hadn't talked to Dad since that night, the only time I've seen him is when he's asleep. And the few times I caught him awake, he was complaining to his friend about work. It's almost as if he's ignoring me...

Snowdrop, on the other hoof, acts like she wants to say something but backs down every time I go to ask her. We barely had worked on the project, it's still at the same spot it was from Monday. I wanted to ask what was wrong and if that 'Doctor' was right but I didn't want to bug her more than I already did.

Cumluo, surprisingly, asked if I was okay and made sure that I had lunch and somepony to talk to. Everypony seemed to be afraid of me, either running from me every time I got close to them or flat out ignoring me. I sat with her, letting her rant about her day, as I offered a few words of my own, letting her get things off her chest.

While she wasn't paying attention, I glanced around the cafeteria, seeing if anypony would want to talk. Cirrus was glaring at me, motioning for me to come to him. I gulped and got up.

"I'll be right back Cumulo, I have to ask Cirrus a question."

She rolled her eyes. "Alright, just be quick, I didn't tell you the best part yet."

I nodded, making my way over to him. "What's wrong?"

"What's wrong? What the hay do you think you're doing hanging out with her?" He asked.

"At least she'll talk to me if you haven't noticed."

"What happened to Snowdrop then or did you want to upgrade?" He seethed.

I stared at him, stunned at the bitterness. "What's your problem?"

"Nothing!"

"Like hay it is, something's bothering you..." A lightbulb went off in my head. "You... you like Snowdrop, don't you?"

He blushed and jumped up, knocking over his food. "How could I like such a useless pony?"

My face turned bright red as I glared at him. "I'm glad you don't because she doesn't deserve somepony like you! You're the reason why-"

"Why what? Why she doesn't have any friends? How can anypony be friends with her? We've all tried and nothing but bad things happen. I mean, look at you. You look like you nearly died and it's all because of her."

I grabbed him by the shoulders, pushing down to the ground. "She has nothing to do with this! If it wasn't for her, I would've died!"

He paused, everypony looking at us. "W-what do you mean?" He asked.

"She was my first friend... she's been the only thing that's kept me sane. She helped me more than she could ever know!" I said, oblivious to everypony.

He stared at me, his mouth wide open. "I-is this true?" Snowdrop's voice asked.

"Of course it is, I don't know how I-" I stopped, just realizing who asked it. I turned to look at her. She stood in the doorway, her face bright red.

"I-Icy..." She started.

I quickly threw myself off Cirrus before taking off, running right past her. I didn't care where I was going, just as long as I was away from everypony again.

I stopped, finding myself in the corner of the school, right next to the swings that I passed by on the first day. I hid behind the trees, a few snowflakes falling on me. I buried my head in my hooves. _W-what was that all about? Where did that come from?_

I could hear ponies calling my name but I ignored them, wishing for something or somepony to tell me what to do, how to handle these random emotions that came outta nowhere. I sighed quietly, hoping the 'Doctor' would come back and explain what he meant, what he'd do.

"I-Icy?" Snowdrop's voice asked, coming closer. I took a deep breath, not answering. "W-well, if you're here...then I just wanted to say thanks. I was afraid you were mad at me for the other day when I asked why you lied." She nervously messed with the snow. "I wasn't sure if you wanted to talk to me... so I... I thought it'd better if I left you alone."

I bit the inside of my lip, trying not to say anything. "But then I saw you lying there in the snow. I didn't know what to do and I didn't want my best and only friendship... to... to just end there, because of a stupid argument. So I just wanted to say I'm sorry and it's none of my business..." She went to turn around.

"Snowdrop wait." I said, scrambling to my hooves.

She paused, staring at me as I walked closer to her, her face turning red. "Y-you were there the whole time?"

"Y-yeah... look Snowdrop, I wanted to say I'm sorry. I was a jerk to you and you didn't deserve that, especially after everything you've done for me. Thank you for letting me eat at your place, and showing me your awesome room... I just wanted to ask if-"

She pulled me into a hug, after a moment of trying to find me, her forehooves flailing about. "Of course I do... I didn't want you to be mad at me..."

"I'm not... I just took out everypony asking me that same question on you... and I'm sorry." I sighed, his voice running through my head. "I-if you really want to know... I-I'll tell you what really happened..."

"You will?" She asked, tilting her head.

"Yes... but you have to promise me that you won't tell anypony."

She nodded. "I promise."

I sighed, leading her over back to the tree and sitting down. "Are you sure?"

"Yes..." She whispered.

"O-okay..." I said, taking a deep breath.


	5. V - In My Life

_"Knowing what it feels to be in pain, is exactly why we try to be kind to others."_

_~;~_

Snowdrop stared at me, waiting for me to start. I cleared my throat as she sat down next to me.

"I-I've only told one other pony the truth...so I might stutter a bit..."

"It's okay Icy, just take your time." She said reassuringly.

"Are you sure though? It's just me rambl-ouch!" I yelped as her hoof poked my patched eye.

"Sorry! I was trying to cover your mouth…" She blushed before moving her hoof down a bit, finally finding my mouth. "Icy, I want to know. So stop trying to stall and let me help...that's what friends do." She took her hoof off my mouth, tilting her head to look at me, waiting.

I sighed, closing my eyes. "Well… remember how I said you were my first friend?"

"Yeah..."

"The truth is...my dad didn't want me to accidentally say our secret."

"What do you mean?" She asked, baffled.

"Well, like I said earlier, I only told one other pony. And she told the authorities and they were gonna take me away."

"Take you away? I don't understand..."

I grabbed her hoof and gently placed it on a bandaid. "The truth is...m-my father... hi-hits me..." I whispered, dragging her hoof all over the bandages.

Her mouth opened wide along with her eyes as she stared at me, the gears in her head working overdrive. "H-how could he do that?" She asked in a quiet voice.

"It's because this is all my fault."

"What?!" She said, shaking her head. "Icy, this-"

"I know it is... I... one day back in Manehattan I found a diary up in the attic from my Mom. She was a thief that stole something and my Dad was sent to get her. She hurt him and he must've talked her out of something cause it said how she took care of him. Then... it ended with her saying she's going to have a baby... and nothing." I faintly smiled. "I asked Dad about it and he was furious... said it was my fault that she isn't with us now..."

"B-but that doesn't make any sense!"

"Yes, yes it does! If my mom could be here, she would be but I had to come into the picture and ruin it! He told me how they used to go on adventures and dance... and... and she couldn't handle being a mother..." I looked away from Snowdrop.

"M-maybe you misread it-"

"I know how to read Snowdrop."

"Then you must've misunderstood-"

"I know what he meant!"

"But how could anypony do that to their own foal!" She yelled back, both of us glaring at each other.

"Snowdrop… for my eighth birthday, all Dad gave me was a slip of paper that said I had to help somepony work with something…"

"What?!"

"Yeah… he… he had a debt he couldn't pay, said it was a medical bill from me and said I had to pay it back… I was a bus colt at the Cherrywood Inn. But it wasn't that bad, met a few ponies that were nice..." I sighed. "I bet I'm not making any sense."

She was silent for a moment. "So… he… he hit you and made you work off his debts?" She asked, dumbfounded.

I thought for a moment. "Pretty much, yeah."

"How… how could you not tell anypony?"

"Honestly, I thought everypony was treated like I was… till I met Ms. Peas." I faintly smiled as I remembered the green unicorn.

"W-what happened?"

"Ms. Peas was my first grade teacher." I sighed. "Always seemed to know how to make everypony laugh." I paused, scratching at the snow. "She could tell something was off with me, always talking to me and trying to make me laugh. One day I was walking home from the inn and she saw me. Asked what I was doing, said I was too young to be working. That day was really bad already. I had gotten into an argument with one of the guest's colt and he hit me right in the eye. She saw it and I just… started crying like a foal. I felt so useless, crying and complaining to my teacher. She made me wait outside while she dealt with the inn, and when she came back, said I didn't need to worry about working for them." I paused for a moment, looking everywhere but at her. "T-the next day, guards showed up at our door, asking to speak with my dad about foal abuse… and one of them recognized him and they let him go… and here we are…"

She was silent, staring at the sky. The clouds were still there, getting ready for another big snowstorm. "But how could he?"

"Yeah but they were mostly my fault-"

"Icy, you need to stop that."

"Stop what?"

"Blaming yourself. Not everything is your fault."

I chuckled. "Well this one is."

"How?"

"Because I was born, he had to pay for medical-"

"Did he have a job?"

I paused, trying to think back. He always seemed to bounce from job to job, always blaming having to take care of me for getting fired. "Y-yes…"

"You don't sound so sure."

"I-I just don't remember…"

"Icy, we both know that you aren't the reason everything happened to you." She looked at me and faintly smiled, tears in her eyes. "When I first started going to school, I would get picked on because I couldn't see and always ran into things. I always wanted to be alone, so no pony could see me as I failed at the easy stuff… I felt I did something wrong, that's why I couldn't see..." She took a deep breath. "When my dad found out, he told me that none of this was my fault and I shouldn't be mad at myself. 'There are things that happen that we can't control nor understand,' he said. I thought he was just trying to make me feel better but now, I'm not so sure." She paused. "I'm beginning to think there's another reason."

"Oh? And what would that be?"

"For everything we've been through, we haven't changed. We're still us… you're still you and I'm still me."

"What do you mean? Of course we are."

"What I meant is we're not… bitter and cold." She sighed. "When my grandpa passed away, my grandma became really mean and nasty. She'd yell at the simplest things and get really mad. Mom said that losing grandpa was hard on grandma and her heart grew cold." She looked at me. "Even with everything that we've gone through, we still try. Most ponies won't do that, they'd only be mean back."

I paused, my words stuck in the back of my throat. We looked at each other for a few moments before I gently wiped her tears away. "It seems like you've thought about this…"

"When you're always alone, you have plenty of time to think."

"Well then, I got a promise for you."

"And what's that?"

"As long as we're friends, you'll never be alone."

She looked at me, trying to stop tears. "R-really?"

I nodded. "With everything I just said, everything that I've done, you're still here. Everypony I've ever met, including my Dad, they all leave. You… you stay with me."

"Well I can say the same for you too." We chuckled as I shook my head. "Icy, can I ask you a question?" She asked, scooting closer to me.

"Sure."

"When you and Cirrus formed that group, why did you let me join? Did you feel sorry for me?"

I thought back, trying to remember. "Honestly yes." I rested my hoof against her mouth. "But let me finish. Yes, when we first started talking, I did feel bad for you. Then I was angry at myself for complaining about my situation when you have it so much worse. It got me thinking, 'if she can still be happy, why couldn't I? Why did I always blame myself? As you can see, I still haven't found the answer to either problem."

"You don't have to have all the answers. That's what makes life fun. So what you've had a horrible foalhood? I mean, it makes you know what it's like to be on the bottom… so you'll never do it to anypony else."

"You do have a point…" I sighed. "How do you do it?"

"Do what?"

"Have something to counter everything I say? You know what I need to hear… and just how to say it."  
"That's easy, because I know how you think. You think a lot like I do and I know what to say to make it sound like a stupid idea." She smiled. "Besides, you do too… always when I have a problem, you seem to be there, just to help me. Never to make fun of or push deeper in the mud…"

"Hay, somepony has to stick up for others."  
"They do and I'm glad that you help me… more so than you know." She faintly smiled.

I chuckled. "That sounds oddly familiar, I just can't place from what though."

"Oh, I must've picked it up somewhere." She said, resting her head on my shoulder.

We sat there, not talking as the snow drifted down again, the sunlight slowly slipping behind the clouds.

"So…" I started.

"So?" She asked, confused.

"Now that you know everything… are we still friends?" I asked nervously.

"Of course, why would that ever change?"

"Most ponies would leave… saying I carry too much 'baggage'."

"Well if you haven't noticed, I'm not like most ponies. Us 'baggage carrying' ponies gotta stick together." She said, holding out her hoof.

I stared at it for a moment before sighing, shaking my head and bumping her hoof. "You're a very odd filly."

"This coming from the colt that's already had a job."

"Touche…" I chuckled. "So is everypony still looking for me?"

"No, Mrs. Windith wanted us to go home early, she also cancelled class. It's supposed to snow heavily today and she didn't want us to get caught up in it."

"Oh… wait, why are you still here then?"

"Looking for you, couldn't leave you out in the snow all night."  
"I would've been fine."

"Icy…" She said, glaring at me.  
"Alright, alright." I said, holding my hooves up defensively as the snow started to come down harder. "Maybe we should get going, don't wanna be stuck out here."

"Yeah, good idea. We still have to go back to the classroom for our stuff." She said as we hurried back to the classroom.

Mrs. Windith turned and watched us rush inside, half covered in snow. "What are you two still doing here? I thought I sent you home early?"

"Yeah, I got lost…" I stuttered.

"I see… Well, you better get home soon before it hits." She said, packing up. "If you want, I can walk you two home."

"That'd be great." We said at the same time.

"Alright, no time like the present." Windith said, ushering us out of the classroom and locked it up. She led us out of the school, waving goodbye to the few remaining teachers. "So who is closer?"

"I think we're about the same distance." I said, scratching my head.

"Okay, how about I drop off Snowdrop first so then I can talk to your dad Icy and she doesn't have to wait."

"He's actually on a work trip…" I mumbled.

Windith stared at me, an eyebrow raised. "So you're gonna be all by yourself? For how long?" She asked.

I thought for a moment. "I think for the rest of the week. He didn't really say for how long…"

"Why don't you stay with us?" Snowdrop butted in.

"I couldn't, I doubt you want to deal with-" I stopped, frozen by the glare she gave me. It felt as if the world had disappeared, frozen by those ice cold blue eyes. I gulped, slowly nodding. "A-alright, I'd love to… if your parent's say its okay."

She smiled and nodded. "Of course they will, I doubt they'd let you stay by yourself anyway."

Windith shook her head as we walked in silence towards Snowdrop's house. She looked at the house. "Well, I'll see you two tomorrow. Have a good night." She said, heading off towards her own house.

"Thanks again Mrs. Windith!" We said in unison, waving goodbye before we stared silently at each other.

"Um… let me just ask my mom and dad real fast…" She said, rushing inside as I stood on the doorstep, nervously kicking at the floor. For the moment I was alone, I sighed, a weight lifted from my chest. I was glad I could finally tell somepony I guess. I faintly smiled, shaking my head as the door flung open.

Before I could say anything, Primrose grabbed me and dragged me inside. I blinked, the sudden light blinded me as I felt somepony brushing the snow off. She smiled before pulling me into a hug, gently rubbing my back. "You had us so worried, how are you? Are you feeling better?"

I stood there, dumbfounded. "Y-yeah, I'm feeling a lot better."

"I'm so glad to hear that." She sighed. "Well Snowdrop was telling me that you'd like to spend the night?"

"Uh… if it wouldn't be too much trouble..."

"Of course not, we'd be more than happy to have you over." She headed towards the kitchen. "You can leave your saddlebags there, lunch is almost ready."

I nodded, tossing my saddlebags by the door and went into the kitchen. Snowdrop was setting the table. I watched her for a moment, slightly amazed at what she could do, even being blind. I shook my head, helping her set the rest of the table.

"So Icy, when is your father coming home?" Primrose asked, finishing up a dandelion lettuce sandwich.

"Uh… not sure, he really didn't say." I blushed, scratching my neck nervously.

"Well when he does, me and Storm would like to have a little talk with him, if that's alright."  
"Oh sure, I'll uh… let him know."

She nodded, turning around to hoof Snowdrop the sandwich. "So Icy, what would you like for lunch?"  
"Just a sandwich will be fine."  
Primrose quickly prepared another sandwich, years of practice making it easy. She set the plate in front of him, his sandwich the same as Snowdrops. She walked over to the fridge and set a plate of sliced apples in between them.

I dug in, my mouth already watering as I savored the first bite. "Thank you very much." I said, pausing before taking another bite.

"You're very welcome." She said, turning back to the sink to finish washing something. "Well you two can sleep in the living room if you'd like."

"Thanks Mom! Did you hear that Icy? We can build a fort! Or stay up all night and play games…" Snowdrop excitedly went on.

I chuckled, finishing off my sandwich and waited for Snowdrop. We started planning the rest of the day, deciding to play some games before doing our homework. After she finished, we rushed into her room, and dug into our saddlebags, figuring out what our homework was. We put that aside, instead playing some more hide and seek.

She thought she had a good spot, hiding underneath the coffee table. But she didn't know her tail was sticking out, wagging slowly back and forth. I smiled, walking around and searching everywhere but the table, making over dramatic movements.

Primrose was watching from the kitchen, leaning against the doorway with a smile on her face. She motioned me to get Snowdrop and I quietly snuck up on the filly, making sure I was as silent as possible. I finally slithered my way underneath the coffee table, Snowdrop still not hearing me. I went to poke her in the shoulder, my tongue sticking out slightly.

"Thank you…" She whispered as she turned to stare right at me, my hoof mere inches away.

I jumped, smacking my head against the table and lifted it momentarily off the ground. "For what?" I whispered back, gasping in pain.

"For telling me the truth… I know it must've been hard to tell that your dad hits you… especially to somepony you barely know…"

My head throbbed as I gingerly held it. "To be honest, I feel so much better once I told you, it's like I could finally breath again."

"Are you okay under there?" Primrose asked, walking closer and bent down.

Snowdrop quickly pulled me on top of her, smiling. "Don't worry, I won't tell anypony." She whispered so quietly only I could hear her. "Aww, you caught me! How'd you find me?" She giggled.

I blinked, my brain trying to catch up with everything as Primrose looked underneath the table right at me. She raised an eyebrow as I looked down, staring into Snowdrop's eyes before I realized I was top of her. I quickly got off, frantically running from underneath the table. "Y-yeah know, your tail was sticking out from u-underneath the table." I said, shaking my head.

Snowdrop smiled and followed right after me, standing next to me. "Icy, you have a bad lump on your head." Primrose pointed out, disappearing into the kitchen and came back with an ice pack. She gently placed it on his head. "Now hold it right here for at least fifteen minutes."

"Alright…" I mumbled as Primrose nodded, heading off upstairs. We walked to the couch and sat down, relaxing in the silence before I coughed. "So… how long did you know I was there for?"

"The entire time, just because I couldn't see you doesn't mean I can't hear you." She stuck her tongue out at me.

"Oh well excuse me for not being quieter."  
She giggled and rolled her eyes. "What do you wanna do now?"

"Not sure, what do you feel like doing?"

"Well we could always play with some of my toys..."

"Alrighty." I said, sighing.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, just a little tired." I said, the ice pack numbing my hoof.

She frowned, grabbing a hoof and led me upstairs. She dragged out her toys and tried to keep me awake as we played with some of her dolls. The time flew by as we played house, reenacted a few of our favorite movies scenes, and did our homework. By the time we were finished, Storm had come home and pulled me aside, wanting to talk to me.

"So how are you feeling?" He asked.

"A lot better, thanks for saving me."

"No problem kid, glad you're alright." He said and still knew I was lying. "If you ever need to get something off your chest, you know you can tell me right?"

I nodded. "Yeah, of course…"  
He sighed. "Alright, well, go grab Snowdrop and tell her its time for dinner." He said, walking off towards the kitchen but not before ruffling my mane. I stared at him and shook my head.

I walked back into her room. "Snowdrop, it's time for dinner."

"Yay!" She said excitedly, both of us charging downstairs for food.  
After eating too much, again, I helped Primrose clean up while Storm spent some time with Snowdrop, her laughter very loud from the living room.

"D-dad stop! I-I can't breath!" She said through laughing.

"Then you surrender against my tickling prowess?" Storm said in a dramatic fashion.

"N-n-never!"

"Then prepare for my ultimate attack!" He laughed evilly as her laughter rose an octave, the ruffling of wings as she feebly fought against him.

I chuckled as I helped Primrose put away the dishes. "Why don't you go help her?" Primrose asked.

"I thought I'd be better help in here, don't wanna get in the way." I said, putting a plate on the top shelf.

"Nonsense, it sounds like she could use the help."

We were silent, Snowdrop gasping for air. I smiled, putting another plate down as I rushed to her 'rescue'. Even catching Storm off guard, we were no match for him, both of us surrendering a while later.

As we caught our breath, Storm shook his head and chuckled. "You two make a good team, you almost got me there."

"Next time we won't give up so easily, right Icy?" Snowdrop asked, holding her hoof out for me.

I pounded it. "Course, we'll get you next time." I said with a huge grin.

Storm laughed, puffing out his chest. "Then till next time little ones." He said, laughing evilly as all of us started laughing. Primrose walked in, kissing Storm's cheek.

"Did you two do your homework?" She asked as we both shook our heads. "Good, then I think we can spoil you a little." She said, pulling out two cookies from behind her back.

Me and Snowdrop quickly grabbed them and devoured them, sighing as her parents chuckled. Snowdrop grabbed my hoof. "Come on, let's go back to my room and continue our game!" She said, pulling me along.

I smiled, letting her lead me back to her room as we continued our game of twister. She was better than I thought she'd be, able to contort just right so she could hit the colors. I was impressed, considering I had to tell her where the colors were.

Finally, we were down to the last spin, right hoof green. I was above her and had to move my hoof with hers. I stuck my tongue out, trying to concentrate and not fall. After a few minutes, I got it and smiled, only for my hoof to give out. We both eeped as I fell on top of her, both of us staring at each other. Our faces turned bright red and time seemed to slow down, her blue eyes full of happiness. We both faintly smiling in silence, not sure what to say as Storm opened her bedroom door.

"Hey, it's time for-" He stopped and I quickly hopped off her.

"Are you alright?" I asked shakily.

"Y-yeah…" She said quietly.

Storm cleared his throat. "Time for you two to go to bed." He said, leaving the door open behind him.

We looked at each other before we scrambled downstairs, Primrose having already set up the beds on the couches. "Alright you two, let's go. We got some fun things planned."

"What are we doing to do?"

"Well if school's canceled, I thought it'd be fun to watch some movies. Maybe play some games too."

"That sounds awesome!" We both said at the same, Primrose kissing Snowdrop on the forehead before she hugged me.

"Sleep tight you two." She said, disappearing upstairs.

"Goodnight!" We yelled, her parent's door shutting as it went quiet.

Snowdrop turned towards me and yawned. "Guess we should be getting to sleep…"

"Yeah…"

"I can't believe today went by so fast…" She said.

"Yeah, but it was fun right?"

"Of course!" She turned away. "Goodnight Icy… and thanks for spending the night."

"Goodnight and thank you for letting me." I turned to face the couch, wide eyed as I listened to wind hit the house. I was wide awake, my heart beating fast as I heard every noise, every creak of the house settling in for the night. I wasn't sure how long I stared at the couch, cringing with every rattle of some random pipe. I curled up, trying to hide underneath the covers as I tossed and turned.

"Icy? You ok?" Snowdrop asked, her blanket slipping off.

"Umm… well, n-not really… I've never slept over at anypony's house before… so I'm a bit ne-nervous…" I said hyperventilating.

She was silent, getting up and coming over to sit down on the couch with me. I leaned up, going to say something when she pulled me into a hug, kissing the top of my head. I froze, my face exploding in red. "W-when I'm nervous, my mom would hug me and… um… can I try something?"

"S-sure?"

She cleared her throat.

"[i]Hush now, quiet now,

it's time to lay your sleepy head,

hush now, quiet now,

it's time to go to bed," [/i] she sung, her face almost as red as mine.

Her voice was soothing, my heart slowing down as my eyelids grew heavy. I snuggled against her chest, closing my eyes. I wrapped my arms around her, hugging her tightly.

[i]"Driftin' off to sleep,

exciting day behind you,

driftin' off to sleep,

let the joy of dreamland find you[/i]," she sung, gently rocking back and forth as her wings enclosed me.

I tried to stay awake, scooting closer to her, my head rested underneath her chin. Her heartbeat made it hard to stay awake though, the gentle beat making me sink deeper into sleep. "T-thank… you…" I trailed off, finally falling asleep in her hooves, her wings warming both of us.


	6. VI - Can't Fight this Feeling

_"Feelings that you have for each other will not be known unless you voice them."_

~;~

Consciousness slowly came back to me, the gentle pat of snow hitting the window the first thing I heard. I yawned, opening my eyes before everything rushed back to me, and my face turned bright red. I felt somepony breathing on me, my ear flicking back and forth. I turned, my eyes resting on Snowdrop's sleeping face. My face turned redder, last night replaying in full force.

She looked so happy and peaceful, a lot happier than when she was awake. She unconsciously strengthened her grip on me, her hooves tight around my back.

Some of her mane fell down across her face as she leaned forward, resting her chin against the top of my head.

I blinked, my face feeling hotter than the sun. I pushed her against the couch, trying to see her face as I brushed her mane back into place. She moved into my hoof, a small smile on her lips. The same part of her mane fell again, right to the same place.

I leaned forward, trying to get it to stay when our muzzles touched. I shot my head back and closed my eyes, expecting her to hit me. When she didn't, I peeked through my eye, and saw her cheeks were red. I hesitantly leaned forward, our muzzles touching again. I watched her face get redder, and she pushed against me, our lips brushing for a moment.

My heart skipped a beat as she whispered something incoherent, my brain foggy. "W-what?" I whispered and leaned in closer, but she stayed silent, snoring softly. _My tummy feels weird…_ I stared into her eyes as I fought the urge to press our lips together again.

Before I could try again, I heard hoofsteps coming down the stairs. I quickly closed my eyes, resting my head against hers. I opened my eye slowly, just enough to see Primrose and Storm looking at the two of us, a hoof to her mouth. They quickly went into the kitchen and I could hear them arguing. I made out a few words, "cuddling" and "wish I could take a picture."

My ear flicked again as Snowdrop yawned quietly and I shut my eye. I felt her move, trying to stretch. "Icy? You awake?" She whispered.

I stayed silent, hoping she'd go back to sleep or go into the kitchen with her parents.

She sighed and took a deep breath. "W-well that's good cause I'm not s-sure if I could tell you otherwise." She stuttered.

I slowly opened my eyes, confused.

"I've been thinking about what we talked about yesterday… and I realized something. We're pretty similar and we really do make a good team. What did you say, 'between the two of us, we could maybe see normally?' She smiled as her face turned red.

I went to agree but quickly shut my mouth as she stared right into my eyes.

"The only difference is, I had somepony to help me or somepony to make sure that everything was alright. You didn't. You always had to rely on yourself…and n-not that that's a bad thing, it's just not right. I had my mom and dad to help me. Your dad…" She huffed, shaking her head. "A-anyway, what I wanted to say was…if you were okay with it, I wanted to be that pony. I wanted to be the one that you could talk to, who you can share your feelings with…I know you don't like to trouble anypony with your problems, but I want to help. Knowing that I can make you smile or laugh makes me feel better, like I'm actually important."

I bit the inside of my cheek trying not to say anything.

"So I-I just wanted to let you know that I will do anything I can to help you…be-because…I like you…" She trailed off, her face completely red.

My mouth dropped slightly as my mind tried to register what she said. She leaned forward, gently pressing her lips against mine. _She's…she's kissing me!_ My upper wing shot out with a 'pomf' as Primrose walked out.

"Snowdrop, Icy, time to get-" She stopped, her thoughts trailing off as Snowdrop immediately broke the kiss and eeped, pushing me away from her.

Before I even knew what happened, I was on the ground and laid there, my brain still trying to gather itself after the kiss. _D-did she…did she just kiss me?!_

Primrose stood stock still, a hoof over her mouth as Storm walked in, his eyes going wide as he saw my wings rigid. He blinked a few times before he tried to suppress a laugh, that quickly escape and he laughed loudly, holding a hoof to his stomach. I tried to get up, my other wing making it even more difficult as it had decided it was time to go stiff as well. As I tried to roll onto my side, only to notice my left wing, Storm laughed even harder, buckling at the knees as he tried to breath.

Snowdrop launched herself off the couch and landed on my wing. I yelped in pain and she quickly backpedaled, hitting the couch and fell forward. I tried to catch her and my hoof touched her chest. We stared at each other, and I could feel her heart beat faster as her wings shot out with a 'pomf.' Both of our faces turned crimson as we struggled to get up, our muzzles bumping against each other.

"Why are your wings out?" Snowdrop asked, trying to get up without stepping on my wings.

"Why are yours?" I countered.

She blushed shaking her head. "I-I don't know, can't you just put your wings away?"  
"N-no, they're not listening." I stuttered, willing my wings to close. They stubbornly refused.

She tried as well, her wings bending slightly before they shot back out. She pouted, looking up at her parents, asking for help. Primrose gasped, holding a hoof over her heart as she tried not to giggle. Storm himself was wiping tears from his eyes, finally calming down. He stood up as Primrose dramatically fainted, falling into his hooves. They smiled at each other, shaking their heads.

"D-dad? Why are our wings out like this?" Snowdrop asked.

All the humor left her parents as they shared a look. "W-well you see, that…uh, just means that you're both ready to learn to fly." He said nervously.

"Oh…so it's normal?" I asked.

There was an awkward pause as Primrose and Storm stared into each other's eyes before he quickly put her down, walked over, and picked up Snowdrop. "Well, we don't want breakfast to get cold." He said, putting Snowdrop on the floor before they disappeared into the kitchen.

Snowdrop and I stared at the kitchen door before she turned around, feeling around for me. "For that to be normal, they sure are acting strange…" She said as she helped me up.

I got to my hooves, our wings finally calming down and folding at our sides. "Well uh…guess it's time to start training, right?" I asked.

She paused, smiling. "Yeah! I can't wait."

I chuckled. "Me too…but breakfast first." I said, leading us into the kitchen. Primrose and Storm already sat at the table, heads close together and whispering rapidly.

We walked in and they went quiet, smiling as Primrose got up, helping Snowdrop into her seat before grabbing us a plate and filling it with pancakes. It was silent around the table, both Primrose and Storm looking like they wanted to say something.

"So um…Dad, what were you and Mom talking about?" Snowdrop asked.

"I was just asking her what she wanted to do today. Since we have to wait till the snow calms down. I thought it'd be nice to just relax and spend some time together." He said, picking up everypony's plates and putting them in the sink.

"So what do you two want to do today?" Primrose asked, looking at both of us.

"Oh! I know, I know!" Snowdrop said.

"Why don't we let Icy pick, he's our guest." Primrose suggest. Snowdrop huffed and crossed her forehooves over her chest.

I shrugged. "I'm not sure…I've never played games with my dad."

"What do you mean?" Primrose asked.

"He was always busy with work…never really had time to play anything. He'd come home exhausted." I said, watching her and Storm's eyes widened slightly.

"Oh…well, what would you like to do then? We can play hide and seek, watch a movie, play charades."

"I hate charades, Dad always wins…" Snowdrop muttered.

"Years of experience kiddo." Storm chuckled.

"So…I can choose?" I asked, nervous as everypony watched me. Both of her parents nodded, silent as they waited. "How about…um…" He paused, wracking his brain before he blushed. "I-I've always wanted to learn how to cook."

"Well then you've come to the right household. Primrose use to be a professional chef." Storm said, grinning over at his wife.

She blushed and raised an eyebrow at me. "Are you sure that's what you want to do?" I shook my head and she got up. "Alright then, Snowdrop and Icy, wash your hooves while I see what we can make." She said, walking to the pantry.

We quickly washed our hooves as Primrose ordered us to gather what we could to make pie. We stumbled over each other as we tried to get the stuff out of the pantry as fast as possible. We'd barely started when Snowdrop grabbed the flour and ripped the bag in half, a white mushroom cloud following. I tried to stop her from tripping in it and landed face first into it instead.

After a quick trip to the shower, I came back. Primrose was helping Snowdrop measure out the remaining flour. Storm was sweeping up the floor, and threw away the ripped bag. I helped him sweep the rest of it up. Finally, I was able to go back and finish getting stuff without stepping in the flour landmine.

I placed the butter and rolling pin on the counter, turning back to grab the salt. "Icy, do you think you can help Snowdrop for a moment while I go get the pans?" Primrose asked.

"Sure." I said, helping Snowdrop measure the last of it, pouring the extra back into the new bag. We smiled at each other, glad to have finally finished the dreaded flour.

Primrose came back, a pie pan and bowl on her back. She slipped them onto the counter, right next to the measuring cup. "Alright, now we just need to measure out some salt, pour them in the bowl, and whisk them together."

"I'll get the salt." I said, darting into the pantry for the forgotten salt. I carefully walked over, Storm chopping up butter into squares to make them fit into the bowl. I poured a teaspoon of salt as Snowdrop, with the help of Primrose, poured the flour.

She hooved me the whisk and I stuck out my tongue, trying to get the salt and flour mixed well. After a few minutes, Primrose tapped my shoulder and made sure to show me how to mix the edges as well. I looked over and saw Storm messing with Snowdrop with an ice cube, holding it gently against her wings as they twitched.

We all chipped in as we threw the butter into the flour, mixing it as Primrose stopped Storm from starting a buttercube war. He pouted as we started to mix the butter and flour together, Snowdrop flinging some into my face. As me and Snowdrop mixed, Primrose added teaspoons of water, checking the dough every few minutes.

She stopped, putting the glass of cold water down next to Snowdrop and me as she rinsed her hooves. "Alright, I think that's enough mixing. Grab the two pans and divide them into two parts. Press them into the pans while I preheat the oven." She said as she turned around.

Me and Snowdrop grabbed the dough, our hooves touching as our wings twitched and we blushed. Her wing smacked against the cold water, knocking it over as it went down her back. She eeped, flinging the bowl straight into my face. I backpedaled and fell backwards, lying on the floor. Primrose turned around and saw what happened, sighing as she held a hoof to her forehead.

After quickly making another one, Storm and Snowdrop filled the pans before passing them to Primrose and me. Then we put them in the stove. She shut the oven and we all sighed. "Well that was an experience." Storm chuckled.

"Is that how it usually is?" I asked.

Primrose shook her head. "Not really, there are those nights were a certain somepony starts a batter war but its very rare." She said, looking at Storm as he nervously chuckled. "Anyway, why don't you two go up and play for awhile, it won't be ready for some time." She said, turning back to start picking up the kitchen.

"Okay." Me and Snowdrop said together, racing up into her room. We waited a moment before she launched into planning a surprise attack on her dad, trying to figure out how we were going to win. I paused, not sure if this was a good idea. I tried to talk her out of it, knowing that we'd only get in serious trouble. After a few minutes of debate, I sighed, relenting as she raised a hoof in victory.

We knew a frontal assault wouldn't work, so we thought of a few tactics, both hoping it'd be enough. We gathered the necessary supplies, and listened to them talk downstairs, waiting for the best time to strike.

We snuck down the stairs, peeking around the couch to see Storm standing in the kitchen door, completely unaware of us. We grabbed our pillows and with a war cry, launched ourselves at him. He jumped and turned around before grinning as he laughed maniacally. Snowdrop continued to attack him as I peeled off, bouncing from the side. He easily blocked her attack as I came a split second later, nearly missing him, afraid of hitting Snowdrop as he used her as a shield.

I paused, watching as he continued to use her as a shield, tickling her the whole time. "Come on Icy, what are you going to do?" He grinned evilly, Snowdrop gasping for air.

I thought for a moment before I threw my pillow just below Snowdrop. I turned around and jumped over the couch, grabbing more pillows. I chucked them as hard as I could, hoping to distract him as I ran closer. He smiled, seeing through my ploy as he dodged them all expertly, the pillowing bouncing harmlessly against the doorframe.

"Is that the best you have?" He cackled.

Suddenly he was smacked in the head by Snowdrop, her weapon clung tightly in her hooves. He stood there, stunned for a moment before he closed his eyes and we grinned as he dramatically fell, making sure he hit the floor and not her.

We ran up to each other and hugged as soon as our hooves met. "We did it!" We yelled, grinning at each other. Before I knew what happened, I leaned and kissed her cheek. Our faces went crimson as our wings ruffled.

I quickly pulled away. "I…I uh...s-sorry, I don't know what we-" I stopped as she kissed my cheek as well. I stood there dumbstruck as those butterflies in my tummy flapping their wings.

"D-don't worry about it…" She whispered, blushing.

I stood there in a daze as Primrose cleared her throat. "Alright you three, I think that's enough for one day." She said, Storm on his hooves as they cleaned up the pillows.

Afterwards we rushed upstairs, going back to playing Twister. Then we did the dreaded math homework we didn't finish yesterday. We struggled for a good hour, both going back and forth before we had to ask Storm for help. He explained it so well we felt stupid for not getting it the first time. He chuckled, saying it'll come in time before leaving us to read the other chapter we're supposed to read for a quiz.

It seemed like time flew by as we played in her room, the once organized books and toys strewn all over the place. Her bed had become a mobile fort or the only safe place from the lava floor.

Storm opened the door just as I jumped, landing on her toybox. "Dinner will be ready soon you two." He said smiling.

"Okay Dad." She said, her tongue out just a bit as she jumped and landed next to me.

"Alright." I said, looking for our next target. He shook his head, shutting the door as I jumped back onto the bed. I turned and she was next to me. "Well then, guess we better head down." I said.

"Do you think we could make it without touching the floor?" She asked.

"And how would we do that?"

"Well, if we used the banister like a rope and slid or climbed our way down, we wouldn't touch the floor."

"Hm… sounds risky and could get us yelled at. Let's do it." I grinned.

"Yeah!" She said, hopping onto her saddlebags.

I jumped next to her as we made our way slowly to the door and I opened it as we hopped to the banister, latching on. She started crawling first as we shimmied our way downstairs, our tails wrapped tightly around each other. We made it halfway down the staircase before we realized a rather large oversight. _How were we supposed to get to the safety of the kitchen?_

"Seems you guys are stuck." Storm said as he rested against the couch. "I'll help you out but you have to clean it up."

"Okay, we promise." Snowdrop said.

He nodded and tossed a few pillows, spaced just enough so our jumps had to be dead on. Snowdrop stared at the pillows, her ears flicking as they hit the ground. She squinted, glaring at the pillows before taking a deep breath and she jumped, landing nicely on the first pillow.

She looked down in shock as Storm whistled, messing with her mane. "That's my filly." They looked up, waiting for me to follow.

I gulped, looking at the pillows before sighing, scooting to where she was moments ago. I took a deep breath, swinging a bit before flinging myself in a barely controlled jump. I landed awkwardly on the edge of the pillow, my hind hoof nearly in the 'lava' before Snowdrop saved me, pulling me in as I leaned against her.

I sighed as we went into the kitchen, our pie sitting on the counter to cool. Primrose grabbed it and put it into the fridge. She grabbed something from the oven and set it on the table. "I wanted to try something new…so I made some three-cheese lasagna." She said, cutting it out of the pan and serving us each a slice. She sat down, taking a deep breath. "I haven't made lasagna in a long time so I'm not sure how it'll taste." She said, waiting for us to take a bite.

We all looked at each other, shrugging as we dug in. It was silent before we devoured what was on our plates, asking for another helping. She smiled, hoofing us each another slice, that we finished fast. She ate hers, after saying it wasn't her best. Which all three of us disagreed with.

Me and Snowdrop got the living room to ourselves again, her parents retreating to their room after cleaning up after dinner. We laid on the couch, an awkward silence hanging over us.

"So…"

"You're warm." She whispered.

"What?" I asked, confused.

"I didn't need a blanket last night because of you…you kept me warm…"

"Y-yeah…" I paused, taking a deep breath. "So… um… co-could I be your blanket again?" I asked, blushing.

"You'd want to?"

"Of course… why wouldn't I?"

"Well… most ponies think that's weird… and wouldn't…"

"Well I'm not most ponies…" I said, getting up and sat next to her. I wrapped my hooves around her and rested my head on her chest. "Your heart… it… it lets me sleep easier…" I chuckled.

Her hooves wrapped me and she sighed contently. "I'm glad… because I wouldn't want to spend time with any other pony." She whispered, leaning back as we closed our eyes, falling asleep as the snowstorm wanned for the night.

* * *

Ha! Finally remembered how to do these! Any who, just thought I'd respond to those reviews..

Mallory Shadowwielder - Thanks! I'm glad you enjoyed it. Used a bit of several families for this... hehe

Amethyst 0 - I hope you like where I'm gonna take it! It's been fun writing... and yeah, he's a bit of d**k...

SpawnofCthulhu - Yeah... glad you like it though


	7. VII - Blowin' in the Wind

_"I'm learning to fly, around the clouds. But what goes up must come down."_

~;~

The next couple days followed that pattern; we'd wake up, have breakfast, and then Snowdrop or I would pick what we did that day. It's funny, they're so different than what I thought a 'family' should be. Here, they laugh, goof around. Hay, Storm plays with her _every day_. If I acted like this around Dad, he'd throw his bottle and tell me to leave him alone.

Even when I asked to learn to cook, they didn't yell or tell me to 'buzz off'... they taught me eagerly and showed me how much fun it was. Last time I tried to ask Dad to teach me to cook, he burnt the pasta and threw it at me. Said it'd toughen me up for how many times I'd fail at cooking.

On the last night of the blizzard, I stared at the ceiling, thinking, while Snowdrop used me as a pillow. I looked down at her, cuddled against me for warmth as she shivered. I pulled the blanket higher, and she nuzzled my chest. _Huh… maybe… maybe this is what she meant…_

We sat at the breakfast table, Primrose once again making excellent pancakes as Storm walked in. "So, now that the blizzard's finally over, guess I gotta teach you two how to fly, right?"

Snowdrop and I grinned at each other. "Yay!" We said simultaneously.

"Talked to a good friend of mine a while back. Pulled some strings and he'll let us train at the Wonderbolts Academy." Storm said, chuckling as he sat down and grabbed some pancakes.

Our mouths drop and our eyes grew. "Y-you mean _the_ Wonderbolts Academy?" Snowdrop asked.

"Unless you know of another Wonderbolts academy." He said, finishing a pancake. "Honey, these are really good, did you change the recipe or something?"

Primrose shook her head. "No, Icy helped me make them."

He turned to me and grinned. "Good job kid, these are pretty good."

"B-but how did you-" I asked, both me and Snowdrop barely able to stay in our seats.

Storm looked at Primrose, who wasn't really paying any attention to us before leaning in. We leaned towards him too. "Well… if you really wanna know, I talked Rapidfire into-"

"_RAPIDFIRE_!?" We exclaimed together.

He blinked and tried not to smile. "Well yeah, unless you know somepony else named-"

"The leader of the Wonderbolts? Who took on three griffons-" Snowdrop started.

"All while dodging lightning strikes and griffin assassins!?" I finished, both of us long gone from our seats as we huddled next to Storm.

He chuckled. "I guess so, if that's how they're telling it nowadays."

"Bu… how do you know him?" Snowdrop asked.

"We were friends back in high school, before I met your mother." He sighed. "Anywho, he gave us special permission to come onboard and watch them train. Said he might even give you two some pointers."

We squealed and sped off to her room, coming back a moment later with our saddlebags. Storm laughed, shaking his head. "Not yet, we gotta wait for a bit."

"But Dad…" Snowdrop pouted.

"You two have to shower and make sure all your homework is done before school tomorrow. And your mother has to make sure she doesn't need your help." He said. "Don't worry, it won't be that bad."

We dragged our hooves as we moped back into her room and made sure we had everything ready for school, our homework finished. We had gone over the quizzes as I helped Snowdrop with a few problems. Primrose didn't need our help, having things already under control. I let Snowdrop shower first as I made sure I had everything packed, not looking forward to going back home after training. _I… I don't wanna go back…_

"Icy, it's your-everything alright?" Snowdrop asked, her mane wrapped in a towel.

I shook my head and forced a smile. "Yeah… just thinking that I have to go back home after training…"

Snowdrop frowned and stared at the floor. "O-oh… yeah…" She paused. "So let's have as much fun as we can right?" She whispered and looked up, smiling at me.

I walked over and hugged her, her fur still wet. "Yeah…" I muttered before letting go and hopping in the shower. I took off my eye patch, hissing in pain as the water hit it.

We held hooves and hopped around Storm in tandem, happy that we were finally leaving as he led us towards the Academy. As we walked there, me and Snowdrop talked about all the tricks we were gonna learn, trying our best to mimic the Wonderbolts.

Finally, after what felt like forever, we stood outside the Academy, two Wonderbolts standing guard over the entrance. I stared up at their cold faces as a shiver of fear tingled down my back.

The building was at least three stories tall, the sloped roof hanging over the second story. Several large windows dotted the outside, the view probably amazing from inside.

We paused right before the steps as a pony walked towards them, his slick back amber mane was littered with gray streaks. His coat was dark gray, all color lost in his old age. He saw us, pulling his sunglasses off so we could see his red eyes. He quickly walked over and stared at us, him and Storm having an intense stare-down.

After a few moments, a big grin spread across his snout as he hoofed Storm. "About time you got here slacker, thought you'd never show." He said.

"Sorry Rapid, had to show the kids around." He said, pointing at us.

Rapidfire turned and stared at us coldly, an eyebrow raising as both me and Snowdrop quickly got to attention. We gulped, trying not to freak out as Rapidfire continued to stare at us.

Slowly, a grin worked its way on his face. "Seems you taught the kids well." He said before bending down and offering a hoof. "Wonderbolt Captain Rapidfire, who are you two?"

"I-I'm Snowdrop…" She said, blushing.

"Icy…" I stuttered.

"Well Snowdrop, Icy, welcome to the Wonderbolt Academy. I'd love to stay and give you a personal tour, but I gotta go to a meeting." He slightly pouted. "But I'll try and make it back before the windbowl." He chuckled, waving goodbye before disappearing down the street.

We watched him leave before we squealed, jabbering between the two of us as Storm led us inside. We gawked at the large building, Wonderbolts walking freely inside. They were each huddled into their own groups with most ignoring Snowdrop and I. Several of the Wonderbolts nodded to Storm, pausing to salute or chat with him. Me and Snowdrop looked at him suspiciously, surprised that they would stop and talk to Storm like he was one of their own.

Suddenly, we were stopped by several Wonderbolt trainees surrounding Storm. They barraged him with things to sign and questions about the 'old days'. They squealed over him like we did Rapidfire, Storm embarrassed with all the attention.

Snowdrop leaned close to me. "Why'd we stop?"

"A bunch of Wonderbolts are talking to your dad-"

"You're the reason I wanted to become a Wonderbolt! When you helped save Princess Celestia from those griffins!" A Wonderbolt said as Storm nervously chuckled.

Me and Snowdrop stared at each other before turning to look at Storm. "As much as I'm flattered, I really must be going." He said.

"Oh, of course sir! Sorry that we interrupted." They said, walking away as they talked amongst their group, comparing signatures.

Storm sighed and turned to us. "Phew, thought they'd never leave." He chuckled.

"Dad, you were a Wonderbolt?"

"That saved Princess Celestia?" I squeaked.

He blushed. "That was a long time ago." He ushered us forward. "Come on, we don't wanna miss the windbowl."

Both of us were frozen, our mouths almost touching the cloud. "YOU WERE A WONDERBOLT!?" We said in unison.

"Yes, yes I was."

"But why did you quit?"

"Are all the stories true? That they make you fly blindfolded?"

"Can you really do Buccaneer Strut and Blind Frontal-Flip?"

"Oh, what about the Cloud Skimmer?"

We continued our interrogation as his face got redder and redder. "Guys!" He finally yelled and cut off my question as several ponies turning our way. "That's enough. Now I want you two to be quiet till I say so, okay?"

We looked at the floor and nodded as he sighed and led us outside. It was awkward between the three of us, none wanting to speak after getting yelled at.

A while later, we stood outside the academy building, a huge sunken part of the cloud in front of us. Both of us stared in wonder, Snowdrop backing up slightly.

Storm sighed. "Look, I'm sorry I yelled at you two earlier, but that was a long time ago…"

"We're sorry too Dad… it's just, why didn't you tell me you were a Wonderbolt?"

"It's a long story, remind me to tell you another day." He said before he cleared his throat. "Before you is the windbowl, a special training device created by Starswirl and Princess Celestia." He said. "There's only a few in existence, the magic necessary to create one far too strong for normal unicorns, and even the Princess has to rest afterwards. In the center of the bowl, strong currents swirl against the sides, creating the momentum needed to move the city." He paused. "I believe we're in time for a demonstration." He said, motioning to several trainees blindly jumping in.

The wind tore at their uniforms, their wings refusing to stay at their sides. "The wind tears at any open you give it. Any weakness it can find, it'll grab on and tear at your resolve." Storm said coldly, watching as the trainees were already struggling to stand.

Several of the trainees quickly bailed out, their uniforms ragged as they panted on the sides. "You go numb in moments, the feeling leaving your body as the wind ceaselessly pulls at you. You can't open your eyes or they'd dry out faster than flying in a desert. Your ears are buffeted by the pressure, your head feeling like it could burst any minute."

Only two trainees remained, gritting their teeth as their wings slowly worked with the wind. It seemed that they finally got the hang of it, going with the wind. Me and Snowdrop watched in horror as one of the trainees wing dipped him too close to the ground as he bounced around the bowl before being spit out. He laid dazed on the cloud as his exhausted teammates rushed over to make sure he was alright.

"You have to learn to harness the wind, make it a part of you. You can't control it, wind is a natural element, able to destroy any that stand in its way. Once you learn its ebb and flow, the gentle nuances. Once you do, well… see for yourself." He said, motioning at the remaining trainee, who was hovering off the ground, his body shaking. Finally he slowly and sluggishly walked out and slumped right outside the bowl. "Funny thing is, sometimes they aren't so lucky and are flung right off the side." Storm said and pointed at the other side. "The bowl was made so one edge was always at the end of Cloudsdale, extra incentive not to fall out. If you fall out… well, the earth ponies and unicorns usually send us the remains." He shrugged as the trainees stumbled inside, the survivor dragged. Storm clapped his hooves. "So, who wants to go first?"

We quickly backed up and I stood in front of Snowdrop as we shook with fear. I could feel my face pale as we shook our heads no. Storm gazed at us coldly before a small smirk appeared on his face. "I'm just kidding you two." He started to laugh, holding a hoof over his face. "Can't believe you thought I'd throw you in there… you should see the look on your faces." He chuckled, taking a calming breath. He walked right passed us and when we didn't follow, he turned around. "So do you want to fly or not?"

We scrambled over each other and followed right behind him as we left the windbowls.

"Here we go, some peace and quiet." He said as we stopped. We were on the farthest part of the academy, away from everypony. "Alright Icy, I've already taught Snowdrop a bit of flying, so we'll have to catch you up to speed." He sighed. "Snowdrop, do you remember the cloud flow that I taught you?" She nodded. "Good, I want you to teach Icy."

She blinked. "W-what?"

"The only way to show me that you mastered it is to teach it to somepony else." He said calmly. "Don't worry, I'm right here."

She gulped and turned towards me. "A-alright… Icy, close your eyes." I did as she said. "N-now… do you feel the tug on your hooves from the cloud?"

"Uh… no?"

"Spread your hooves out and just breath, keep your eyes closed. Feel around you."

"Everypony has inert magic inside them. It's what gives the pegasi the ability to shape the weather. First you must learn to feel the magic inside. Then harness it… then you can merge with the wind." Storm said, a cold breeze flowing through.

I shivered, feeling something prickling inside. "I'm not feeling anything… except cold."

She walked up to me and placed a hoof on my chest. "Relax, you're too stressed." She paused. "Dad taught me to see through this, look for everypony's faint outline… I can see that you're too wound up."

I bit the inside of my cheek and took a deep breath, trying to calm down. Another breeze hit us, this time gliding over my back. I twitched as I felt something. I was startled, my body relaxed by itself.

"Ah, seems like its a bit windy…" Storm chuckled.

It felt like a small fire was lit in my chest, the wind tugging at it, making stronger. "Do you feel it Icy?" Snowdrop asked.

"Y-yeah…"

"Feel the breeze glide over you, feel it take hold of your wings…" She whispered, our wings opening by themselves.

"Good job kid, you're a natural." Storm said. "Now that you can finally feel it, we can start learning to jump." He said as he began to show us lift off. "Never lift off against the wind, always go with. Learned that the hard way and nearly broke my wing." He chuckled.

Both of us practiced with Snowdrop easily taking to it more. She seemed to understand how to time in between gusts to keep hovering. It was a lot harder than I thought, even with a few tips from Storm.

"I did it!" I said, finally hovering just above the cloud. My wings were gently lifting with the wind. He grinned at the two as my wings flapped, the small uptake keeping 'em aloft.

"Congrats kid." Storm said, rustling my mane as I smiled.

Snowdrop hovered over, small beats of her wings pushed her forward. We bumped hooves as Storm cleared his throat. "Now that you know how to hover, let's try actual flying."

We landed as he took off, showing us the stance we want to take off in, when to flap our wings, which way to tilt to turn. It seemed so complicated, tipping your wing and leaning left, all the while keeping a steady rhythm. It took me awhile and several face plants into the cloud before I could even hover off the cloud long enough to start moving. I did my first semi circle, finally grasping a few tricks he showed me.

I looked over at Snowdrop as she expertly flew through the air, dipping right with the wind and using momentum to keep herself airborne. It was almost as if she could see the change before it happened, dipping easily with a gust of wind.

"Seems she's a natural." Storm said, watching with pride.

"Yeah… its almost like she can predict the future." I said, hovering around.

"Well in a sense, she can. She can see the energy clearer and I've taught her little tricks since she was born blind." He sighed. "Even if she can't see normally like us, she can see the energy clearer… what takes us years of practice takes her about half the time. Our biggest problem is being clouded with sight, but she doesn't have to worry about that." He turned to me, scratching his neck. "Look, I know we've had this talk before… but I just can't help it. I know how much you mean to Snowdrop… and I worry about you. You're a great colt and have quite the unusual outlook on life. I know you didn't want to say anything… but what's the real reason your dad isn't here? He's not on business, is he?"

I turned away, my wings buzzing to keep me afloat. "I… uh, don't know what you're talking about."

"Icy, I'm not going to force you to say anything… Just know whenever you need somepony to talk to, I'm here, okay?"

"Yeah… I know…"

"Good." He faintly smiled. "Oh, and Icy?" I tilted my head. "You and Snowdrop make a cute couple."

I face planted in the cloud, my wings going stiff. Storm roared with laughter, almost falling down as Snowdrop landed next to us. "What happened?"

I shook the snow off my head, my face on fire. "N-nothing…" She looked at me quizzically as she helped me to my hooves, patting the snow off.

"ICY!" Somepony's voice yelled.

My fur stood on end as I dived behind Storm. Storm and Snowdrop quickly looked towards the voice, a stallion flying towards them. "Who the hay is that?" Storm asked.

"M-my d-dad…" I whispered and gulped as the stallion landed. Dad had a dark navy blue coat, silver starting to show. His mane was short and thinning, the remaining was silver. His ice cold blue eyes glared daggers at me as he marched over. His silvery blue tail swished agitatedly. His cutie mark was a shield over the sun.

Storm intercepted him. "It's nice to mee-"

"What the hay do you think you're doing?!" Dad yelled.

Storm blinked. "What?"

He reached around and grabbed my hoof, pulling me away from them as Snowdrop gasped, tears in the corners of her eyes. "What do you think you're doing with my son!? Teaching him to fly?! That is a sacred tradition between father and son and you took it away from me!"

"Excuse me! He's old enough to learn and he needs to! He deserves to be taught, with or without his father's help. Every pegasus needs to know how to fly."

Dad glared at Storm before pulling me away and forced me on his back. "I'll teach him when I think he's ready." He paused and poked Storm in the chest. "And you stay the HAY away from my son!" He said, flying away.

I turned around and looked at Storm, scared, and tried not to cry as Dad took me away. The last thing I saw was Storm quickly trying to comfort Snowdrop.

* * *

So... yeah... He finally knows how to "fly"! Yay! The next chapter's gonna be super short... so I'll probably upload it in the next week or so...

ZF01 - I know! I have way too much fun writing them! And thanks! Glad that you enjoy it! =D

Mallory Shadowielder - Well he met Storm... and I'll explain in 2 chapters him meeting Primrose... and yeah, feels like I'm writing a slightly exaggerated retelling of my childhood. =D Deja vu all over again. And I'd say they're anywhere from 8-12, but I'd lean more on 10.

IronHoofs - Yeah, they may be a little young, but I'm glad you enjoy the story! =D

I'm not really sure... so I guess, "Guest" - Glad you enjoy it! And I only have 1 eye as well =P But she can see, which I sorta explained in this chapter and vaguely hinted at in others. Storm taught her to see the energy around so she has some slight idea where things are, just not everything...


	8. VIII - Scar Tissue

_"Our injuries will heal as long as we're alive. But the scars will remain."_

_~;~_

"D-dad, why are you so mad?" I asked, baffled as he flew home. Dad refused to answer, fury radiating off him as he squeezed my hoof tighter.

"What did I say?! Don't get too close to anypony!" He finally answered.

"Why not?"

"Just in case you screw up again and we have to leave." He muttered.

Snowdrop's words echoed in my head. "But its not my fault…" I whispered.

"What?" Dad asked as we landed in front of the apartments. We opened the front door, Mrs. Dancer's smile quickly faltered as she saw the looks on our face. We walked right past her as we made it to our house.

"I… uh… said it wasn't my fault?" I stuttered and wished for Snowdrop's help.

Dad's eye twitched as he flung open the door and pushed me inside. I smacked into the couch. He slammed the door shut, the door itself shook. "EXCUSE ME?"

I gulped, shriveling up as I backed away. I didn't see the blow coming, his hoof cracking into my head. "What did I say about talking back?"

I held my head, tears already trickling out of my eyes. "I-I'm so-sorry…" I whimpered.

He stood over me, picking me up before whacking my wing. "After everything I've taught you, all that effort I put into raising you to respect your father… this is how you pay me? Looks like I didn't teach you hard enough." He said, my back cracking against the table. "I can't believe you would even think that this isn't your fault! How could it not be? Before you, I had a job, a loving wife… a career!" The table cracked and caved as he battered me around and I cried, curling into a ball like I learned to do. He glared at me and forced me to my hooves. "Get up and stand your ground! I thought I taught you to be tough, to take anything that life threw at you?" He paused before a grin stretched across his face. "Oh… it was that filthy blind bat eh? Made you soft… but I can see why you'd fall for her, you're both a pair of rejects… destined to be the bane of your parents." He chuckled. "I can't believe my son fell for such a defective pony… but I guess that's just like you? No matter how much I try to teach you, you still are just as useless as she is. How… how they even manage to be proud of her is amazing! If she was my filly, I would've dropped her off a cloud and be done with it! But-" My hoof met his jaw with a sickening crunch as I glared at him.

My hoof throbbed as I stomped it on the ground. "You aren't a pony, you're a monster! My ENTIRE LIFE you've treated me like trash… but now, I'm finally happy. Why?! Why do you hate to see me happy?! Is it because you saw how much of a better dad Storm is than you?! You know, living with them for the week, I realized how much of a horrible dad you really are!" I took a shaky breath and stared Frosty right in the eye. "You aren't my father anymore, I'm leaving."

He stared at me, a tear slowly falling out of his eye. "You wanna know why I treat you like trash? Why I even put up with you?" He took a step closer. "Because you killed your mother."

I blinked. "What?"

"Because I promised her that I'd look after you, no matter what. Even when she left me alone, with you, I still took care of you. I could've tossed you aside and forgot about you, but no. I suffered every day, watching you grow up and had to deal with it alone." He wiped the blood from his mouth. "But you know what the worst thing is? You have her eyes… Every time I looked at you, all I saw was her… Every time I hit you, I hoped they'd change, hoped it was all an illusion. That the same eyes I fell in love with didn't stare back at me in fear." He grabbed me and ripped off my eye patch. "Even when this one died, it still looked like hers! I couldn't escape it!" He pushed me to the floor as he sighed. "So I thought, maybe if I hit him enough, he'd go away on his own… or maybe some pony would notice and I wouldn't have to deal with you."

I staggered to my hooves, tears pouring even faster. "B-but you told me..."

"She left… Yes… you drove her away. My beautiful wife died and left me alone with a spoiled brat and a defect. Why…" He paused as he stared at the ceiling. "You know, after seeing her eyes, I thought about killing you so I didn't have to see them again. But I didn't want you to get to see her and spend any time with her. No... you should suffer for what you put her through, live every moment alone... like I've had to do... knowing you were responsible for her death."

I stood there, staring at the floor as all the lies… all the hidden meaning Dad's said over the years came back. [i]Mom… mom died because of me?[/i] My body deflated as all my fantasies of Mom coming back shattered, the ashes spinning around.

_YOU KILLED HER_ It shouted as I closed my eyes, shaking my head.

I could feel my chest burning, my hooves going numb. _Bu… I couldn't… It can't-_

The picture I drew for class appeared in my head, Mom crying._ Why… why did you do it Icy…_ The vision I had, Mom tearfully looking at me before she disappeared, it all made sense.

_I… I really did…_

Frosty sighed. "But now that I finally got that off my chest, I'm going to do what I should've done a long time ago." He said, his hoof sending me flying.

I didn't feel a thing, my body passing out long ago. He picked me up, tossing me like a ragdoll into anything close at hoof. Finally he grabbed a piece of the table, standing over me. "This is for your own good Icy…" He said as our front door flew open, Storm standing in the doorway.

Storm quickly looked around and saw all the broken furniture and me, barely breathing. He turned his eyes onto Frosty as the stallion in question turned towards him. "Who the hell do you think you are, breaking into my house?"

"Protecting my colt." Storm answered, his wings a blur as he launched himself. Frosty swung the wood like a club. Storm ducked underneath as his forehooves connected with Frosty's chest.

The air left Frosty's lungs as he stumbled back. Storm followed him and grabbed the wood from Frosty's hoof, ripping it out of his grip and smacking him in the snout with it. Frosty yelped, his hooves going to hold his injured snout as Storm went for another swing and connected with his stomach. He folded in two as the wood splintered on his ribs. He cried out in pain, a few drops of blood dripped out of his mouth.

Storm grabbed Frosty's mane, pulling him up. "YOU NEVER HIT YOUR COLT!" He screamed. "The one thing that your WIFE asked you to do and this is how you're keeping your promise?" He punched Frosty in jaw where I hit him. "You've taught Icy nothing but being afraid of others and how to never trust anypony!" He punched him again, Frosty gasping for breath. "My daughter was barely able to speak after she told us what you've done to him, she couldn't stop crying. How could you do such a thing to your own flesh and blood?"

I felt hooves wrap around me as I opened my eye. Primrose was holding back tears. "It's going to be alright Icy, I promise. I won't let him hurt you anymore." She said and gently pulled me into a hug, her wings protectively around me. I buried my face into her chest and screamed, unable to contain anything anymore. She tried to rock me back and forth but I screamed louder.

"Get away from me!" I screamed as I tried to push myself away from her. Instead, I found myself trying to get closer to her, trying to hide from the pain. "I'll just kill you too!" I muttered as I gasped for air. "I already killed my Mom, I don't want to kill Snowdrop's too!" I cried.

Primrose paused and looked down at me. She kissed my forehead and wiped a tear from my eye. "Icy, what mothers want most in life is to see their foals grow up to be ponies that are happy with their choices. We may never have met your mother, but we both know that she'd want you to be happy and not blame yourself for a horrible accident. She may have died during foalbirth, but she made sure you came into this world. I've only known you for a few weeks but you've been like a colt to both me and Storm…" My heart skipped a beat, the pain pausing for a moment, "and we've been thinking of finally sitting you down and have you tell us everything. I wish you would've told us sooner… If we'd known, we could've stopped this." A tear rolled down her snout as she hugged me, trying to push away the pain. "I wish I could take your pain away and make you happy Icy… I would give anything to see you happy, truly happy."

My heart picked up, my body finally going into shock as everything started to go dark. "Mom…" I whispered and feebly wrapped my hooves around Primrose.

She bit the inside of her lip as she gingerly picked me up. Making sure I was alright, she quickly took me from the apartment. The last thing that I saw before the world went black was Dad on the floor as Storm stood over him, his jaw clenched in anger.

* * *

Yeah... who saw that coming? Told you it was short, but it hits hard... and um... to an extent, with exaggeration of course, did this happen to me. How sad, turning it into a story. Childhood can do some funny things... oh well. Any who, I should say that this story is wrapping up within 3 to 4 chapters but don't worry! Sequel's on the way! I decided to split it into a trilogy, foal, teen, adult... sounds familiar, right? XD

Lighting Fire - XD I'm glad you enjoy it so much! Favorite story at the moment to write! And yeah, favourite part to write... which I can't take all the credit for, my editor helped out.

vhdc1234 - Thank you! Glad you like it! :D

Toxicockmonkey - Working on the next chapter as I type this...

Waffleman2211 - Thanks and I'm doing what I can!

marrianezelo - :D! Working as fast I can!

Guest 1 - Icy is gonna ask her out... but that's gonna be in the sequel XD

Guest 2 - I thought about that... but felt it was too Disney XP But we'll see...


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